A K-9 trained to find weapons is now working in Volusia County Schools. Eyewitness News got to see how K9 Maverick signals his handler to let him know he found a weapon.
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In this case, Deputy Troy Akeley planted a training object that has a scent similar to a gun in a locker.
“He was trained to whenever he comes into the odor to sit so basically what happened was, he was searching the lockers and caught an odor of something he likes,” said Akeley.
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Maverick and Akeley travel to middle and high schools throughout the county to do random searches. They can also be deployed to respond during an active threat.
During the 2022-2023 school year, more than 80 weapons were found on campuses.
Captain Todd Smith said since implementing a random search policy through a moving metal detector program and deploying maverick, weapons related incidents have started to drop.
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“Last year we had 50 weapons that were recovered, this year we are at 37 weapons so we are still recovering weapons, but we are doing everything we can to make sure that all of our students are safe,” said Smith.
While sniffing for dangerous objects is Maverick’s job, Akeley said the ultimate goal is for him to find nothing at all.
“I know the kids see him so a lot of it is a deterrent as well so hopefully they see and think oh we shouldn’t bring whatever we were thinking about bringing to school,” said Akeley.
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