Sheriff Johnson Names New Lieutenant

Date Added: March 04, 2014 11:00 am

Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

After serving on the front lines of the drug war for several years, Brian Henderson is trading in his job for a new assignment and a new rank. On Tuesday, Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson promoted Henderson to the rank of lieutenant. Noting that there was strong competition and a strong field of candidates, Sheriff Johnson told Henderson that he had earned the promotion through his hard work and dedication to the job. “It’s a real honor and a pleasure to be able to present you with your lieutenant’s badge,” Sheriff Johnson told Henderson Tuesday morning. “You earned this.” With that, the badge signifying his new rank was handed to Henderson’s mother, who pinned it on his uniform in front of a large crowd of friends and co-workers who had assembled at the Deputy Stephen Saboda Training Center in Daytona Beach. 

Henderson has been with the Sheriff’s Office since February 2002, serving in a variety of positions, including road patrol and investigations. He also has served as a hostage negotiator and was a member of the agency’s crime suppression team. However, much of his career has been spent as a narcotics investigator, first with the West Volusia Narcotics Task Force and then since 2011, as a supervisor with the Volusia Bureau of Investigation (VBI). Along the way, Henderson has earned a reputation as a well-rounded, proactive law enforcement officer with a good work ethic and exceptional initiative and someone who has performed at an outstanding level with each new assignment. 

When he leaves VBI at the end of the month, Henderson will be putting those skills to work in his new assignment as one of the Sheriff’s Office’s two rotating, night-time Watch Commanders. A Volusia County native, Henderson is 31-years-old and has an associate of arts degree in criminal justice from Keiser University. His promotion was the result of a vacancy created by the impending retirement of Lieutenant Cliff Williams, who serves as the assistant district commander in the Sheriff’s Office’s DeBary headquarters. Williams is retiring on March 31.