By Special to The Beacon

posted Nov 16, 2012 - 8:34:57am

Excellence certainly runs in the family as demonstrated by a father and son duo who earned honors as Volusia County Sheriff’s Office Employees of the 3rd Quarter of 2012. The father is a volunteer who is putting his past experience to good use with the Cold Case Homicide Squad while his son solves current cases as an investigator in Deltona. Also getting awards from Sheriff Ben Johnson at the Deputy Stephen Saboda Training Center Tuesday morning in

Daytona Beach were a sergeant who works to prevent crime before it happens, a school crossing guard whose caring attitude touched a family, and a cool under pressure telecommunicator.

Investigator of the quarter William Maxwell II, who works out of the Sheriff’s Office’s Deltona District office, is well known for taking on each and every assigned case as a personal challenge. He has a passion for finding the “bad guys” and he doesn’t limit his efforts to his own cases. He constantly volunteers to help others, too. During a recent investigation into a series of burglaries, Maxwell discovered that similar crimes were going on in neighboring counties. This prompted Maxwell to work with several other agencies and earn impressive results: four arrests for 10 cases in three counties. In another investigation Maxwell assisted patrol deputies in the arrest of four juveniles connected to at least a dozen vehicle burglaries and a stolen car.

“His thoroughness, dedication and determination serve as examples for his co-workers and often inspire those around him to go the extra mile,” said Maxwell’s supervisor, Sgt. John Brown.

Volunteer of the quarter William Maxwell, who is the investigator of quarter’s father, had to meet some very tough requirements in order to take on a position with the Major Case Unit’s Cold Case Homicide Squad. But he has met or exceeded those expectations as he poured 230 hours of volunteer time into helping establish the new squad. Maxwell assisted in the construction of a special storage area for all of the files and he then handled, read and copied every document in every file in order to properly organize them for easy future retrieval. Maxwell is a retired Volusia deputy.

“We appreciated you coming back and being a volunteer for us,” said Sheriff Johnson. “Thank you!”

Sergeant Patrick Leahy knows that there is much more to being a deputy beyond making arrests. Among the many jobs he fulfills in the Deltona district office is that of community relations coordinator, which is all about public outreach and crime prevention. He recently organized a successful and very popular National Night Out event at Deltona’s City Hall that involved bringing together many different groups and planning several presentations. Leahy even conducted a seminar himself that night for about 30 children about Stranger Danger. Additionally, he helped with back to school events and an anti-bullying rally, all while doing his other jobs of a patrol sergeant and hostage negotiator. He gladly takes on extra duties, many of which occur during his time off.

“These examples represent his continuous dedication to go above and beyond through his commitment to positively promote the Sheriffs’ Office and safety of all citizens,” said the Deltona district commander Capt. David Brannon. “The impact of his efforts cannot be overstated.”

Employee of the quarter AnaBell Alicea couldn’t just stand idly by when she saw someone in need. There weren’t enough bicycles to go around in one family whose five Timbercrest Elementary students have to trek nearly two miles to school every day. Alicea, a Volusia County Sheriff’s school crossing guard, noticed that sometimes the kids were using the few available bikes in a very risky way. They would double up on the bikes, with some kids riding on the handlebars. Rather than just scold the children, Alicea and a deputy decided to help the Deltona family out in a positive way. After school one day the kids were surprised when they were presented with donated bikes and helmets provided by Alicea and the deputy.

One child’s teacher said she was moved to tears by the generosity. “When my student came back to class, he was beaming with happiness and was so proud of his helmet that he would not remove it and I didn’t make him,” wrote the first grade teacher in an e-mail to Sheriff Johnson.

Telecommunicator of the quarter Carlos Medina earned the honor for his professional handling of a carjacking incident in the Holly Hill area. A pursuit started that included the Sheriff’s Office’s helicopter and several officers from multiple agencies. The pursuit lasted about 20 minutes while Medina calmly kept up with the busy radio traffic and documented the flow of information in a timely manner. One of the involved officers later praised Medina’s work, saying that when things got real busy Medina did a great job of keeping everyone on track. Medina also willingly works any position in the radio room and uses his Spanish language knowledge to help other telecommunicators handle callers who only speak Spanish.

“It is always a pleasure to work with an employee who is not only proficient at his job but maintains a positive attitude,” said Medina’s supervisor Patricia McDonnell.

— info@beaconlinenews.com

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