VIRGINIA BEACH -- Officer Brandon S. Butler shone a flashlight into vehicles in the 19th Street North Municipal parking lot one breezy Saturday night.
He was looking for folks with open containers of alcohol, which is illegal at the Oceanfront. He found none. Just discarded Bud Light bottles and cans on the ground.
Alcohol-related offenses have become his specialty.
He knows a lot about drinking in the resort area, like how some people "pre-game" - drinking before visiting an Oceanfront bar or club, to cut down on their bar tabs. And which places serve the strongest drinks:
"Their orange crushes are out of control," he said of one local establishment.
If the Oceanfront after dark can be a wild frat party, then Butler, 32, is one of the folks who clean it up when the music and the drinks stop flowing.
"A lot of people are drunk and driving down here, too," he said. "They just don't get it."
He is driven by a somber personal reminder about the dangers of drinking irresponsibly: He was a toddler when his cousin was killed by a drunken driver.
Butler, nicknamed "RoboCop" by fellow officers, made 114 arrests last year on charges of driving under the influence - the second-most in the department. Another officer, Doug Reader, made just one more.
So far in 2012, Butler has made 31.
On Friday, Butler was awarded the Medal of Merit by the department for his hard work.
He will be honored at an annual Mothers Against Drunk Driving awards dinner in August.
Adam Bernstein, a sergeant in the 2nd Precinct, worked with Butler at the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office.
He said he nominated Butler for the award because he goes above and beyond.
"He does not have an off switch at all," Bernstein said. "He's always in fifth gear and rarely backs it down."
A Portsmouth native, Butler started his career as a corrections officer at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail. He spent six years with the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office, and became a Beach police officer four years ago.
He spends much of his free time at the gym, which accounts for his muscular, youthful appearance. He and his wife, Brandi, have an 18-month-old son, Ethan, and are expecting their second child in September.
This is his third summer assigned to the Oceanfront, where he sometimes patrols by bike. His shifts last from 5:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m., and he patrols Rudee Inlet to 42nd Street and Park Avenue.
The infractions aren't all alcohol offenses. A recent Saturday night shift read like a court docket: A stabbing; an unpaid restaurant bill; a fight; a drunken Royal Navy sailor. Butler even took a chain saw to half a tree that fell onto Cavalier Road.
In his summers at the Oceanfront, he's seen a lot.
A drunken driver hit his car at 19th and Baltic in 2009. The driver's truck rolled over his police car, and Butler was slightly injured. He was back at work the next night.
"I was very, very sore," he said. "You can't let it beat you."
He also arrested a woman on a charge of driving under the influence with her 3-month-old daughter in her car on Oceana Boulevard in 2010. The mother was later convicted. The case made Nancy Grace's show on CNN.
He says he feels rewarded by these arrests.
"Every time you pull a drunk driver off the streets, you save their lives and a driver that's going to work or the grocery store," he said.
"Since I became a father - I'd hate for my mom or my wife to be driving down the road with my son and some drunk driver hit them and I lose my son," he added. "The actions, mistakes and judgment errors from one person can really affect someone's life."
A DUI arrest can take two to four hours to process.
"I never get off on time, but it's worth it," he said. "I'll work a DUI anytime. The most important thing is to get them off the streets."
As he drove along on patrol, a white car on Pacific Avenue veered slightly into the left lane. Butler followed the car for a couple minutes, just to make sure the driver wasn't drunk.
Jennifer Jiggetts, 757-222-5150, [email protected]
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