Traffic operations target unregistered golf carts, crosswalk violations and cut-through driving in DeBary

Sergeant Barnes, traffic and motor supervisor for Volusia County Sheriff's Office District 6, reported several targeted traffic operations at the CompStat briefing with City of DeBary officials.

“At the March, beginning of April, we conducted a golf cart traffic operation ... over the past month, we did 17 city citations, 6 regular citations, and 4 warnings,” Sergeant Barnes said, describing enforcement at bridal nights and on Saturday mornings aimed at unregistered golf carts and unauthorized road use.

Barnes also said officers conducted a pedestrian crosswalk operation on Dirksen and Mansion and wrote 68 citations in four hours. Captains and supervisors noted that overall traffic stops in District 6 fell between January and April but that the stops made are increasingly yielding more serious arrests: the briefing reported 884 traffic stops in January versus 660 in April countywide for District 6, while felony arrests related to traffic increased (18 in April versus 5 in January in one cited comparison).

District leaders said reduced traffic stops on major thoroughfares has displaced driving into residential streets, increasing community complaints about cut-through traffic on DeBary Drive and Amigos Road; the sheriff’s office said active steps are in place to address those routes.

The briefing also previewed holiday DUI operations around Memorial Day and July 4 and emphasized that although the number of stops has decreased in some areas, the severity of those stops has increased, producing more significant arrests, including felony arrests.