CBP Officer of the Year

Written By

Canine Enforcement Officer (CEO) Darin Witte was born in Gretna, Louisiana and grew up in the New Orleans area.  He attended the University of Louisiana Monroe in Northern Louisiana where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice in 2001.  It was during this time that he also met his wonderful wife Michelle.

CEO Witte entered on duty with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in 2003 as a sworn Federal Law Enforcement Officer at the Port of Jacksonville.

From 2006-2007, CEO Witte deployed and worked in Sri Lanka as part of the CBP Container Security Initiative (CSI). CSI is part of CBP’s layered cargo security strategy to address the threat to border security and global trade posed by the potential terrorist use of a maritime container by deploying teams of CBP officers to foreign seaports.

In 2007, CEO Witte returned to the Port of Jacksonville where he employed the expertise he gained during his time in Sri Lanka and quickly became a subject matter expert in targeting suspicious cargo. He would go on to mentor other officers and teach Sea Cargo Targeting to officers from all ports of entry across the U.S. from 2007-2009.  

In 2009, CEO Witte decided to pursue a different career path within CBP and was selected to be a Canine Enforcement Officer. CEO Witte and his partner “Tom” worked together for approximately 7 years to detect and interdict illegal narcotics attempting to elude CBP and enter the U.S. market. CEO Witte and “Tom” were a highly energetic and successful team and in 2016 “Tom” was able to retire after a prestigious career and join CEO Witte at home as a member of the Witte Family.  

Upon “Tom’s” retirement in 2016, CEO Witte was fortunate enough to gain partner “Buddy”. “Buddy” is trained to detect firearms and currency which makes his unique skill set highly sought after in the law enforcement community. Through a tremendous amount of hard work, CEO Witte and “Buddy” have been one of the top performers in the nation for total number of firearms and ammunition seizures each of the last three years. In addition, this dynamic team also led the nation in firearms intercepts when assisting other law enforcement agencies in 2020. In addition to firearms, CEO Witte and “Buddy” have been credited with assisting in numerous search warrants and enforcement operations with other Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies which have resulted in the seizure of various narcotics.

CEO Witte and “Buddy” were recently recognized by other law enforcement agencies for their work in recovering firearms concealed in homes during search warrants, wooded areas as part of ongoing investigations and in recovering a firearm which had been used in a crime and discarded on the side of the road during a vehicle pursuit. CEO Witte and “Buddy” covered an exhausting 5-mile span of interstate during the search for the weapon and eventually located the weapon when everyone else assumed the firearm was unrecoverable. CEO Witte and “Buddy” are without a doubt the best firearms/currency team. We are extremely proud of their efforts and thankful to have them as part of our Jacksonville CBP family.

CEO Witte has served nearly 18 years in Law Enforcement with Integrity, Professionalism, and Service to Country.  His outstanding dedication and professionalism are in keeping with the highest traditions of public service and reflect great credit on himself, and U. S. Customs and Border Protection.

It gives me great pleasure to introduce the 2021 “CBP Officer of the Year Award” recipient, Canine Enforcement Officer Darin Witte.