BSO Lt. Michele McCardle, who will be promoted to captain and executive officer of BSO’s Parkland District on Sept. 24 [BSO]

By Kevin Deutsch

Parkland is getting a new top cop.

Michele McCardle will be promoted to captain and executive officer of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Parkland District on Sept. 24, the agency said Tuesday.

McCardle is currently the executive officer of BSO’s Weston District, where she took the reins in Aug. 2020. She has over 21 years of experience with BSO.

The law enforcement veteran graduated from the University of Central Florida with magna cum laude honors in 2000, earning a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice and a minor in legal studies.

She joined BSO in Jan. 2001 as a child protective investigator, investigating allegations of child abuse, abandonment, and neglect until May 2002, when she went to the Broward Police Academy.

After graduating from the academy, McCardle served as a road patrol deputy in BSO’s Tamarac District for two years before being promoted to detective in the property crimes unit, investigating burglaries and auto thefts until 2005.

Next, McCardle was transferred to BSO’s Criminal Investigations Division, where she investigated economic crimes like organized schemes to defraud and identity theft, according to the agency.

She then went to work in the Sex Crimes/Missing Persons Unit for two years; then the Abuse and Neglect Unit for two years, investigating the abuse and neglect of children, animals, seniors, and vulnerable adults, as well as felony domestic abuse crimes and dating violence.

From 2010 through 2015, McCardle worked as a detective in BSO’s Violent Crimes Unit, investigating shootings, stabbings, arson, and other serious crimes. Next, she moved to the Special Victims Unit and investigated sex crimes, domestic violence, child, elderly, and animal abuse.

She also did training on sex crimes investigations for BSO deputies, detectives, supervisors, and command staff.

In March 2015, McCardle was promoted to the rank of sergeant. She supervised road patrol deputies from March until June 2015, when she became sergeant of BSO’s Child Protective Investigations Section, supervising a staff of 17 and handling around 15,000 abuse reports per year.

In 2017, she moved back to the Criminal Investigations Division to become the sergeant of the Special Victims Unit.

In November 2019, McCardle arrived in the Weston District as sergeant of the district’s Crime Prevention Unit.

In July 2020, she was promoted and transferred back to BSO’s Criminal Investigations Division, Major Crimes Section. About a month later, she was appointed executive officer of Weston’s BSO District.

McCardle’s move to Parkland comes three months after the firing of Captain Craig Calavetta, the former BSO official selected as Parkland District Chief in Aug. 2021.

Calavetta’s firing came 11 days after a high-profile weapons incident at Somerset Parkland Academy involving the school’s then principal, Geyler Castro, who was later reassigned from her position. Two guns in Castro’s possession were brought into the school on June 2, setting off a scandal at the charter academy.

After Calavetta’s firing, Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said Parkland’s former top cop had “deliberately” provided “false information to administration.”

Tony did not say whether the false information concerned the firearms investigation at the school.

Send your news to Parkland’s #1 Award-Winning News Source, Parkland Talk. Don’t miss reading Coral Springs Talk, Margate Talk, and Tamarac Talk.

Author Profile

Kevin Deutsch

Kevin Deutsch is an award-winning crime journalist and author. A graduate of Florida International University, Kevin has worked on staff at The Miami Herald, New York Daily News, and The Palm Beach Post.