For Hometown News
Each year four Volusia County Sheriff's Office employees and one volunteer are carefully chosen out of more than 1,000 people for their exceptional work performance.
The five demonstrated superior work ethic and achievement, not only during the past year, but also throughout their careers.
Sheriff Ben Johnson honored these top-performing Employees of the Year 2012 during a ceremony at the Deputy Stephen Saboda Training Center Feb. 5 in Daytona Beach.
Deputy of the year Karen Pierce is the school resource deputy at both Galaxy Middle School and Deltona High School. The principals of both schools praised Ms. Pierce as an effective, professional and truly caring law enforcement representative to all of the students.
Investigator of the year Brian Cobb, who works out of the Sheriff's Office's DeLand District office, volunteered to take on a tough investigative project that required months to bring to fruition. In addition to his already demanding regular case load
Employee of the year Annette Cazella has her hands full with clerical duties, receptionist duties and data processing for the Sex Crimes and Internet Crimes Against Children units. But she continually takes on yet more responsibilities in an effort to keep the units on the cutting edge.
Shortly after midnight on Feb. 20, telecommunicator of the year Frank Sclafani was dispatching for the South Daytona Police Department when a suspicious vehicle incident started. The vehicle fled from officers, and as the incident progressed, the vehicle pursuit passed through four cities, involving several officers from different agencies. Mr. Sclafani coordinated the constant flow of information as the direction of travel changed frequently.
Volunteer of the year William Maxwell 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. Mr. Maxwell is a retired Volusia deputy.
"We appreciate you coming back and doing what you're doing for us," said Sheriff Johnson.