Lieutenant Michele McCardle began her career with the Broward Sheriff's Office in January 2001 as a Child Protective Investigator, investigating allegations of child abuse, abandonment and neglect, until May of 2002 when she went to the Broward Police Academy.
Upon graduation from the Academy, Lt. McCardle served as a road patrol deputy in the Tamarac District for two years before being promoted to detective in property crimes. In 2005, Lt. McCardle transferred to the Criminal Investigations Division, where she continued her detective work for ten years. In March of 2015, Lt. McCardle was promoted to sergeant. She supervised road patrol from March until June 2015, when she moved to be the sergeant over the Child Protective Investigations Section of BSO. In 2017, she moved back to the Criminal Investigations Division to become the sergeant of the Special Victims Unit.
In November 2019, Lt. McCardle arrived in the Weston District as sergeant over the Weston Crime Prevention Unit. In July 2020, Lt. McCardle was promoted and transferred back to the Criminal Investigations Division, Major Crimes Section. About a month later, she was appointed executive officer at the Weston BSO District.
Lt. McCardle graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Central Florida in 2000, with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and a minor in legal studies. She is a certified Florida Department of Law Enforcement instructor specializing in teaching child abuse and sex crimes courses for BSO deputies, detectives, supervisors and command staff, and other law enforcement officers from the tri-county area.