The Suffolk Sheriff’s Office honored five of the city’s heroes on Wednesday in the Mills E. Godwin Courts Building.

Dozens of friends, family, colleagues and city officials met at the courthouse for the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office promotion ceremony that was held Wednesday afternoon. Five candidates were sworn in by Randolph Carter Jr., clerk of the Circuit Court of Suffolk, and badges were pinned on their chests by loved ones.

These five dedicated professionals embody the mission of the Suffolk’s Sheriff’s Office: to provide quality services to Suffolk citizens with integrity, compassion and a commitment to justice.

These five professionals are truly heroic, according to the ceremony’s guest speaker, Dr. Steven G. Blunt, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Mahan.

After each of the candidates on Wednesday expressed their gratitude to those that have supported them for many years, Dr. Blunt referred to them as true superheroes — like in stories of Superman or Wonder Woman, which teach lessons about the world we live in and about the immense responsibility of service and servitude.

Like when Uncle Ben told Peter Parker, “for with great power comes great responsibility,” according to Dr. Blunt, “that responsibility is the same that’s expected of each of us as we’re called to try and enhance and improve the lives of individuals and communities that we are surrounded by.”

“That’s why we’re here today,” he said to his audience Wednesday. “In addition to our prayers, our affirmation and our support, it’s certainly our desire that by the context of what’s been done on today — for the charge and duty and oath for which you’ve already sworn — that in so many ways we celebrate you being the real superheroes here in Suffolk, and we celebrate the goodness that’s going to come from these new members of the halls of justice, so to speak.”

According to a Suffolk Sheriff’s Office press release, the following five members of the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office were honored on Wednesday for their recent promotions:

• Deputy Reva Brinkley has been promoted to the rank of sergeant and will become the sergeant of Circuit Court. Brinkley was hired by the Western Tidewater Regional Jail in 2006, where she served as a jail officer and worked in several different sections of the jail. She joined the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office in 2017. She is a C.I.T. instructor, the chaplain for the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office, and holds several other prominent roles.
• Lt. Robert Cain Jr. has been promoted to the position of captain, director of operations. Cain served in the U.S. Army for eight years before starting his law enforcement career. He has been in law enforcement for 20 years, 15 of which have been with the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office.
• Sgt. Nate Goodwin has been promoted to the position of lieutenant, director of building security. Goodwin has more than 20 years of law enforcement experience and has served the past 19 years with the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office. He has attended several of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s training courses and seminars, and has also been actively engaged with local elementary schools in Suffolk.
• Deputy John King has been promoted to the rank of sergeant and will become the sergeant of civil process. King began his law enforcement career in 1993 with the Suffolk Police Department, where he held several instructor certifications. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2002, where he served for four years before he pursued other interests while remaining an auxiliary officer for 10 years. He has been with the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office for more than two years.
• Sgt. David Miles has been promoted to the position of chief deputy sheriff. Miles began his law enforcement career in 2006 with the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office, where he specialized in correctional and court security measures. In 2015, he joined the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office in order to better serve his home community.