2 Sheriff’s Office employees honored for top-notch efforts
WEST PALM BEACH — For nearly eight years, Shirley Lorfils has fulfilled her dream working in law enforcement as a dispatcher for the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office. Vera Butler was barely out of high school two decades ago when she began working in law-enforcement communications.
Both were recognized during an awards ceremony Wednesday at the sheriff ’s headquarters.
Lorfils was the named the 2018 Communications Officer of the Year, while Butler was named the department’s Supervisor of the Year.
“Getting this award is so humbling,” Lorfils said. “We do something every day that you don’t expect a reward for. I’m so thankful that my co-workers thought enough about me to recognize that I work hard, and I come in, and we all get the job done together.”
During her time at the sheriff ’s office, Lorfils’ work has included dignitary details at Palm Beach International Airport for presidential arrivals and departures for presidential motorcade routes.
Lorfils said dealing with uncooperative callers can be one of the more challenging aspects of the job.
“It is my job to keep to somebody safe,” she said. “We have to get all of the information in a quick time with people who are not (always) cooperative and to keep them safe as well as my deputies.”
Butler joined the sheriff ’s office in 2008, when the agency took over law-enforcement operations for Lake Worth and has been in dispatch communications for nearly 24 years.
Butler said she was still a senior at Santaluces High School when she met a woman who convinced her to fill out an application for Lake Worth police communications department.
She currently works on the office’s Teletype and Validations team, verifying the accuracy of department documents. She has worked as a supervisor for 2003, while she was still with Lake Worth.
“Twenty-four years later, I’m still here,” she said.
Butler said she enjoys the different challenges the job presents each day.
“There’s never two days that are alike,” she said. “There’s never two calls that are alike.”
In all, the sheriff ’s office recognized 17 nominees. The ceremony was part of National Telecommunicators week.