By Sarah Calams
MARION COUNTY, Fla. — Recently, a sheriff in Brevard County, Florida, posted a Facebook video alerting members of his community about new plans to ensure his school district’s safety. That plan included the district’s school resource officers being outfitted with rifles and tactical uniforms in wake of the Robb Elementary mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Now, in Marion County, Florida, Sheriff Billy Woods is fighting crime in his schools with K-9 Albi – the county’s first firearm-detecting police K-9.
“Albi’s got a job and she knows exactly what her job is,” Woods said about the German short-haired pointer. “To detect firearms, ammunition, ammunition cases that have been fired, post-blast residue after a firearm has been fired. Smokeless powder, gun oils and gun lubricants.”
K-9 Albi and her handler will stop at schools randomly or by request, WESH.com reported.
“To the would-be criminals out there viewing right now, know Albi’s coming, and if you’re going to carry a gun on campus, she’ll find you, and we will arrest you,” Woods said.
The inclusion of firearm-detecting K-9s in schools is not a new idea. A school district in South Carolina launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for firearm-detecting K-9s for their schools, and a Maryland police department welcomed a firearm-detecting K-9 earlier this summer to keep its schools and community members safe.