McDaniel Award presented

On April 30, 2009 St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Detective Shannon Andrews received the Mellie McDaniel Award from the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

She is only the third recipient of the state-wide award which was presented during the FCADV Rural Training Institute—Behind Closed Doors: Breaking the Silence in Rural Communities.

Detective Andrews was nominated by Tania Schmidt-Alpers, Attorney at Law and the attorney with the Betty Griffin House, a certified domestic violence program in St. Johns County.

Andrews investigates domestic and sexual abuse cases in the Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Section. She is also a former Child Protective Investigator for the Florida Department of Children and Families.

St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar praised Andrews for her award and added, “Detective Andrews was an excellent choice for this award. She demonstrates daily the dedication and professionalism of the men and women who have chosen law enforcement as their profession. We are extremely proud of her accomplishments.”

The Mellie McDaniel Award was created in memory of Mellie McDaniel and is presented to an outstanding law enforcement professional responding to domestic violence in rural communities. McDaniel was a victim advocate and the wife of former Sheriff John McDaniel of Jackson County. They met when he was Sheriff and she worked as a receptionist at a bank. He hired her to coordinate the Sheriff’s Office domestic violence program after they received a state grant. She was killed on 30 January 2007, in her driveway, along with Deputy Michael Altman who responded to the scene.