Volusia Sheriff: Deltona's clearance rates high, agency cites major narcotics seizures and technology upgrades
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Summary
Captain Omar McKnight reported a nearly 80% clearance rate in Deltona for major crimes, significant narcotics seizures countywide and new tools such as live 911 in patrol cars and local NIBIN capability; Sheriff Chitwood and commissioners praised community-focused recruiting and outreach.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office presented a year-in-review to the Deltona City Commission on Feb. 17, highlighting public-safety metrics, narcotics seizures, technology investments and local recruiting efforts.
"Our clearance rate was almost 80% for here in Deltona," Captain Omar McKnight said, citing a local clearance rate the presentation said is roughly double the national average the agency used for comparison. McKnight told commissioners the sheriff's office reported nearly 11,000 county arrests in 2025, roughly 1,300 narcotics arrests, and substantial drug seizures: the presentation listed nearly 1,800 grams of fentanyl (an agency estimate characterized in the presentation as "enough for a 1,200,000 doses"), 17,000 grams of cocaine and more than 27,000 grams of methamphetamine.
McKnight highlighted new capabilities and units: a financial crimes unit started in September 2024 that the agency said recovered $1.5 million for victims; live 911 audio pushed to patrol vehicles to accelerate response; an AI answering service for non-emergency calls that escalates emergencies to a call taker; and a local NIBIN (ballistics) machine that shortens shell-casing matching from months to hours. He also said the sheriff's office runs selective traffic enforcement points and issued roughly 13,000 citations in Deltona for the year.
Commissioners thanked deputies for community engagement and noted the sheriff's hiring focus on recruiting Deltona residents. Sheriff Chitwood added that Deltona often receives new technology first and said the county received funding for a campus guardian drone pilot program; he said Deltona High is a likely pilot site.
The presentation was followed by questions and broad endorsement from the commission; no formal city action was required.
Note: numeric totals and derived calculations (for example, conversion of seizure weights to "doses") were presented by the sheriff's office in its report and are reported here as the agency described them.
