MDSO Awards Ceremony

The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (MDSO) is pleased to announce that Deputy Leonard Cantave is the agency’s Distinguished Deputy of the Month.  In addition, Deputy Cantave is being awarded the Gold Medal of Valor, Lifesaving Award, and Purple Heart.  MDSO is also proud to recognize Special Patrol Bureau’s Incident Management Team (IMT) as the Unit of the Month.

Deputy Leonard Cantave of the Midwest District’s Neighborhood Resource Unit is the Distinguished Deputy of the Month for February 2026 for his heroic lifesaving actions. On December 27, 2025, Deputy Cantave responded to a motor vehicle crash on the Florida’s Turnpike.  Deputy Cantave activated his emergency lights and positioned his marked police vehicle in the inside lane of traffic to shield those on scene, placing himself between oncoming traffic and the stranded motorist. He then made contact with the driver to assess her condition and determine the vehicle’s operability.

While standing near the rear of the stopped vehicle, Deputy Cantave noticed a vehicle driving at a dangerously high rate of speed, which recklessly swerved around a City of Doral Police marked unit. In that instant, facing a split-second life-or-death decision, Deputy Cantave acted on pure instinct and selflessness. Without regard for his own safety, Deputy Cantave pushed a City of Doral police officer out of the path of the oncoming vehicle.  The oncoming driver swerved and struck Deputy Cantave with devastating force, propelling him through the air across three lanes of traffic before the vehicle came to rest a couple hundred feet away. Deputy Cantave sustained life-threatening injuries as a result of the impact and was airlifted to the Trauma Center at HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, where he underwent multiple emergency surgeries and intensive medical treatment in a fight for his life.

MDSO also recognizes Special Patrol Bureau’s Incident Management Team as the Unit of the Month for February 2026.  IMT provides critical logistical, tactical, and drone support across the agency, playing a key role in high-risk operations, emergency response, and large-scale events. For the calendar year of 2025, IMT successfully supported 87 search warrants, 43 critical incidents involving barricaded subjects where a command post was necessary, fulfilled 131 logistical requests and conducted 83 drone flights in support of the Special Response Team’s (SRT) execution of high-risk search warrants. Requests for investigative drone flights almost doubled, with a total of 9 successful operations to gather evidence for the successful prosecution of felony cases. RDF was deployed on 36 different occasions. Thirty-six command posts were established and IMT members participated in or coordinated 12 tabletop exercises to ensure MDSO’s preparedness during critical incidents.

Their professionalism and dedication continue to enhance public safety and support MDSO’s mission.  We thank IMT for their commitment and service.