Back-to-School: DCPS K9 Unit detects threats for schools

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Duval County School District Police Department is hard at work and constantly doing exercises on school grounds to make sure your child is safe this school year.

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K9 Officer Maverick and K9 Officer Penny have their paws on the pulse of security within Duval County Public Schools.

“Maverick and Penny, they do the same. They have the same job. They’re both K9s, but they both are vastly different. K9 Maverick is a toy reward. K9 Penny is a food reward,” said K9 handler Lt. Amber Gazdick.

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Both K9s sniff out security threats. Maverick works to detect guns, and Penny finds drugs along with their handlers.

“Maverick isn’t originally what I pictured. We didn’t want, like a pointy ear dog. You know, most people think, ‘Oh, that’s scary! They bite people.’ That’s just not the case. That’s not what he’s trained to do. he’s trained to find weapons,” said Lt. Gazdick. “That’s why it was so vital that we picked the right dog with the right personality for the school environment.”

Gazdick leads the K9 department for DCPS. She says that getting the team up and running was difficult at first, with lots of questions from parents.

Read: ‘It’s not safe:’ Local parents react to new Duval County school bus policy

In addition, despite school being out, for summer break, the K9 Unit has been busy training for the year.

“In the summer, it’s a lot of training. They train with other agencies. They train with different school environments, so they can keep their environments up. The floors, you know, changing in floor texture, different smells in the schools ... We’re adding schools,” Gazdick explained. “We’re also doing construction in schools, so [they get training with] different build-outs of schools. So, when school does come back, they’ve been there already. They’re not worried.”

The department is trying to get an explosive detective K9. School police said it would be another beneficial tool for the district, giving it another way to detect any bomb threats on school grounds.

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