- May 1, 2024
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If Ormond Beach Police Detective Ryan Mihalko isn't at the station, he doesn't have to worry about missing a case. The files will be waiting for him on his chair.
Mihalko, who has been in law enforcement for 12 years, loves his job. He knew for a long time that he wanted to be a police officer, having always liked the idea of standing up for others. As a detective on the small police force, he has a lot of freedom to do investigations. He travels where the cases demand, and spends hours working on a variety of different kinds of cases, from credit card fraud all the way up to homicides.
Investigations come with a lot of work.
“On the road, at the end of the day, your cases are done," Mihalko said. "You go home, tomorrow’s a fresh day of calls. Here, the pile always is there.”
He has a couple of arrests warrants taped up on his cubicle, one of which is from the 2019 Ormond Beach child homicide case he investigated. It's one of the cases that contributed to him winning Volusia County's Crime Stoppers' Officer of the Year.
His cubicle is decorated with superheroes, namely Batman. Mihalko said he's a nerd at heart, and growing up, Batman was his favorite hero.
“For him, it’s always persevering to do good," Mihalko said. "Through all the trials and tribulations that you go through, there’s always that urge to do right, and that’s something to really take home for me.”
Mihalko remembers responding to the June 2019 call for Daemon Scott, a five-month-old boy that died at the hospital from injuries police believe to have been the result of child abuse by his parents, both of whom were charged and arrested for his death.
He originally thought he was responding to a child neglect case, but when he arrived at the scene, he recalls that something didn't feel right. He was warned that Scott was very injured, but still, the image is burned in his brain, he said.
“It was by far 100% pure, uncut nightmare fuel," Mihalko said.
As a father himself, this was the most difficult case he'd ever worked. When you think of working a homicide, Mihalko explained, you think about crimes of passion or perhaps rival criminals. You don't think of a child meeting that fate.
The second case that earned him the recognition of Officer of the Year was the sexual battery of a young woman at the River Grille in Ormond Beach in February of this year. The suspect turned out to be a registered sex offender, someone Mihalko described as a "serial rapist." That case necessitated the help from multiple agencies to close.
With cases like this, Mihalko recognizes the need to take care of his mental health. He tries not to bring his stress home with him, but if he does, his wife is his rock. When he's not spending time with his daughter, helping solve her crises when she gets locked out of her iPad, Mihalko decompresses through video games and cooking. His wife bought him a cookbook for their anniversary.
“Just the little things, and it keeps you grounded," Mihalko said. "It helps push you through, because you can’t dwell on it.”
When City Manager Joyce Shahanan told the commission at its Dec. 1 meeting of Mihalko's award, she indicated he would be humble about it.
“He will tell you that it’s a whole department effort but we really appreciate all of his work on that," Shanahan said.
She was right. Mihalko stresses that it's due to the entire team that they're able to close cases. The strength of law enforcement lies in being able to work together.
“You cannot be the lone wolf, the one-man army," Mihalko said. "You are a part of the team, and if you don’t have that, you will never do successful cases like this. You can’t.”
Every Batman needs their Robin. Mihalko said you need a good team to make a good case, and afterward, keep those good cases closed. Everyone has their strengths and they bare the grim aspects of their job together.
On his upper right arm, Mihalko sports a tattoo of the Joker's face bisected by the Bat-signal.
“Greatest hero and the greatest villain going at it," he said.
