Three Sheriff's Office Veterans Earn Promotions

Date Added: August 09, 2011 10:00 am

Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

A 13-year Sheriff’s Office veteran has earned a new badge and a new role heading up the agency’s law enforcement operations in Northwest Volusia. And with her promotion, Captain Michelle Newman becomes the highest-ranking female officer in the Sheriff’s Office and just the second woman in the history of the agency to command a District headquarters. Also promoted along with Newman were Lieutenant Mike Odgers and Sergeant Sean Dwan.

While the promotions actually took effect in June, Tuesday was the first opportunity Sheriff Ben Johnson had to officially present the trio with their new badges. The Sheriff noted that the three are representative of the quality and depth of his employees, saying that the future of the agency is in good hands. “Each and every one of these people has excelled in their areas of responsibility,” Sheriff Johnson told a large crowd of co-workers and relatives who assembled at the agency’s Deputy Stephen Saboda Training Center in Daytona Beach to mark the occasion. “We’re very proud of them.”

Born in Jacksonville and raised in Volusia County, the 37-year-old Newman came to the Sheriff’s Office in September 1998. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management from Warner Southern College and has prior law enforcement experience with the U.S. Air Force Security Police and Stetson University. Her tenure at the Sheriff’s Office has included assignments in judicial services, road patrol and investigations. In her new assignment, Newman heads the Sheriff’s Office’s District 2 headquarters in DeLand, where she previously served as Assistant District Commander. With her new position, Captain Newman commands a staff of 34 sworn officers who work road patrol and investigations. Another 22 civilian employees, including 20 school crossing guards, one school crossing guard supervisor and an office assistant also work out of the facility. Newman is married and has two children.

Lieutenant Odgers, 41, has been with the Sheriff’s Office for 14 years and has previously worked assignments in patrol, civil, extraditions and courthouse security. He is currently serving as one of the agency’s two night-time Watch Commanders. Sergeant Dwan, 43, has been with the Sheriff’s Office for six years. He has spent his entire tenure in road patrol, where he has specialized in DUI and traffic enforcement. He is currently serving as a road patrol supervisor in the Sheriff’s Office’s Southeast Volusia-based District 5 area.