After spike in violent juvenile incidents, Deltona to pilot 'Campus Guardian' drones and expand school safety drills

Director Kwan and deputies told the briefing the city is seeing a spike in violent juvenile crime involving firearms and younger offenders. "Juvenile crime is down overall, but not violent juvenile crime with guns," Director Kwan said, and presenters described arrests and incidents involving children as young as 9–12 in violent episodes.

The briefing announced a Campus Guardian drone pilot with indoor drones stored in locked boxes and remote pilots contracted from Texas; officials said the drones can reach 30–50 mph indoors and up to 100 mph outdoors, that operators will be remote professionals, and that systems use layered encryption and dual‑key access to prevent unauthorized use. Officials described non‑lethal payloads (a "pepper goo" rather than pepper balls) and outlined rapid launch targets (launch within 5 seconds and reach an active threat within 15 seconds).

Speakers emphasized the program is a pilot and that the drones "do not spy on the kids" and operate on an encrypted network with access keys. The briefing also described school safety audits (21 schools audited with 19 passing, six Deltona schools audited with no deficiencies), canine checks by K9 Maverick across classrooms and parking lots (264 and 98 checks with no firearms found), and reunification exercises planned for elementary and high schools.

Officials said the behavioral-threat unit (under Lieutenant Tucker) assesses students on pathways to violence, coordinates with ESE and mental-health teams, and uses graduated interventions to reduce risks. The briefing announced a May 1 media day at Deltona High to demonstrate the pilot and stressed that the program is part of a larger school-safety strategy rather than a surveillance rollout.