The head of the Danville Police Department’s crime scene investigation unit plans to run for city sheriff in 2009.
Lt. Mike Mondul, a 15-veteran of the police department, said it is time for a change in the sheriff’s office.
“The sheriff’s department can do a lot more for the community than what it’s doing now,” Mondul, 39, said.
Mondul believes jail inmates have it too easy. He wants a fair but firm environment where inmates won’t want to revisit. He wants to develop programs so teenagers can see what jail is like so they won’t wind up there.
Mondul also believes there’s a morale problem in the department and he has the ability to make it better. He can do that by being more involved in the operations of the department.
“I can provided spirited leadership,” he said.
He said he thought about running four years ago, but the timing was not right.
Sheriff Jim Dooley was first elected Nov. 10, 1988, defeating Capt. Sherman Warner. The position became open when Sheriff Charles J. Smith retired in 1987 for health reasons. Dooley was a civil process server for four years in the sheriff’s office, and was named chief deputy a year later under Dudley Bowling, who became interim sheriff following Smith’s retirement.
Mondul grew up in a military family and spent his childhood in Rhode Island, Hawaii, Canada, California, Italy and Northern Virginia. He moved to Norfolk, where he graduated from Old Dominion University. He has a master’s degree in criminal justice from Boston University.
Serving with the police department since 1993, Mondul started as a patrol officer and was later promoted to field training officer.
He was involved in Operation Flashpoint, where three families involved in drug sales were arrested, and he was the crime scene supervisor for the death of Danville attorney Gary L. Bengston. Mondul is scheduled to be a witness to Christopher Scott Emmett’s execution.
In Henry County, he helped the sheriff’s office there follow up on leads in the Jennifer Short murder case. He handcuffed Marlow Farmer after Farmer shot Officer Dennis Haley in the throat during a drug bust.
Mondul is a member of the SWAT team and served on the department’s honor guard for five years. He teaches at the Piedmont Regional Criminal Justice Academy and is a certified general instructor for the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Mondul has worked in the criminal investigations division and was a supervisor in the records division. He assists with providing public information and as team manager for the Piedmont Regional Crash Investigation.
In the community, Mondul was president of the Danville Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 36 for 10 years. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership and the Danville-Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Southside program.
He is also active in Riverview Rotary and the Boy Scouts and serves as a lay leader at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany. He also coaches little league, soccer and roller hockey.
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