New police K9s help Fulton schools sniff out firearms
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Police K9 Ernie sniffs out gunpowder at a locker at Cambridge High School in Milton as his handler, Sgt. Sean Hanse, watches.
The Fulton County School System now has three, four-legged officers whose keen noses can help detect weapons and explosives.
Why it matters: The police K-9s are part of the district's investment in tools and technology to deter school shootings.
- They will also prevent the Fulton County schools police department from having to rely on a neighboring jurisdiction's K-9 unit when responding to calls.
Driving the news: The Labrador retrievers — Ernie, Ducky and Delilah — are assigned to Fulton school police officers who completed six weeks of training with the dogs.
- The dogs visit schools each day and participate in random checks.
- They also lend a helping nose when the district is using its Evolv system, which uses sensors and AI to detect concealed weapons.
What they're saying: "It's just an additional resource that we have when we're actually looking to make sure that weapons stay out of our schools," Fulton County schools police chief Mark Sulborski told Axios.
Zoom in: It cost the district around $110,000 to purchase the dogs and get them trained.
- They also have ongoing maintenance and veterinary costs, said Sulborski, who oversees a department that has more than 60 P.OS.T.-certified officers.
- The district outfitted police vehicles to accommodate the dogs, including a system that monitors the car's temperature and can alert an officer of any changes.
How they work: Sgt. Sean Hanse, Ernie's handler, told Axios his dog can follow an odor or do a "static" move — meaning he can find something that's hiding.
- "He'll keep working until he gets right to the odor," Hanse said during a demonstration of Ernie's skills at Cambridge High School in Milton.
- Once he's found something, he will sit and wait for his reward: a ball.
The dogs were purchased from the Global K9 Protection Group, an Alabama-based business that provides canines for security-related jobs.
- The company procures them from Auburn University, and they are trained using Global K9's Vapor Wake method, which teaches dogs how to detect concealed or person-worn explosives or firearms, according to its website.
- The company is working on a similar partnership this year with the Cobb County School District, and the Board of Education is expected to consider approving an agreement at its Thursday meeting.
Zoom out: Fulton and Cobb's interests in police K9s come nearly two years after Atlanta Public Schools brought on three dogs that also sniff out weapons and explosives.
- Following the May 24, 2022, school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the Fulton school system installed audible alarms on doors that are not used as the primary entrance and exit points at schools.
- The district also purchased more than 200 automatic license plate readers that were placed at campus entrances and installed buzzer entry systems on the front doors of each school.
What we're watching: If more school systems add police K9s to their ranks or use other law enforcement agencies for that service.