Cobb schools to add canine detection teams as safety measure

The Cobb County School District will be adding two canine detection teams as part of its efforts to bolster safety in schools.

At a Cobb Board of Education work session Thursday, officials introduced the “Vapor Wake” system, in which officer-led teams with specially trained dogs identify “person-worn or concealed-carried explosives and firearms,” according to the district.

The program includes a partnership with Global K9 Protection Group, a private company based in Opelika, Ala., that provides canine-focused security solutions.

The dogs are trained to “continuously sample the air for concealed firearms and explosives, tracking potential threats even while in motion. This cutting-edge detection capability provides real-time security monitoring, allowing for a swift response to potential threats.”

Major universities, sports arenas, theaters and other entities use Vapor Wake.

“We want our families to see for themselves that our schools are the safest in our community,” Cobb school board chairman David Chastain said in a district statement. “These canine teams are another example of us identifying and addressing threats before they happen.”

The Cobb school district has canine teams that aren’t specifically trained in Vapor Wake.

At the work session, Global K9 personnel presented “Dakota” and “Aubie,”  two Labrador retrievers will be working in Cobb schools, and who are undergoing training.

Much of what Cobb schools is doing regarding safety has been done in confidence. When the district announced in October a partnership with a private national intelligence firm, it didn’t initially identify that company.

News reports revealed that it’s Servius Group, which includes former federal military and intelligence staffers who will be using counterintelligence techniques, data science and machine-learning components to conduct risk assessments at other schools and other measures that haven’t been clearly spelled out.

“This is a different situation in that we want to scream from the mountaintops that we have these canines, officers in use and they are able to detect weapons with 100 percent efficiency,” Cobb superintendent Chris Ragsdale said.

“We want everybody to know that. We want the world to know that where we have these canines there are going to present and be able to prevent weapons from entering the school.”

Keith Turner of Global K9 said the company was formed in 2018 with 20 employees, and currently has nearly 600 personnel, employing canine teams in more than 160 cities and localities.

The Vapor Wake contract, which will cost the Cobb school district $80,000, includes continuing training and recertification.

He said the company can sell dogs, “but what I want to sell is the idea of family.”

The company’s client base includes the Atlanta Braves, Six Flags theme parks, various stadiums and performing arts venues in California and elsewhere, and the Chicago and New York City police departments.

He said the Vapor Wake technology “is proven,” with the dogs trained to source particles in the air.

He said the technology is unobtrusive and won’t “hit on a cell phone, on a laptop,” unlike some metal-detecting devices.

“This is a dangerous odor,” Turner said. “It could be a smokeless powder, it could be potassium nitrate, anything with residue.”

Ragsdale said “it’s hard not to be excited” about something “that’s 100 percent effective.

“If we’re going to say student and staff safety is our top priority, then we need to do everything we can to ensure that that top priority remains attainable.”

But school board members did have some questions about Vapor Wake and the program.

Nichelle Davis asked about students and staff who didn’t like dogs or who were allergic to them.

Turner said he wasn’t aware of any such cases with his company’s trained animals, and wanted the program to engender a feeling of friendliness and safety with the dogs.

Randy Scamihorn wanted to see something of a demonstration at the open work session, but was told that would be provided in executive session for security reasons.

He also wanted to know if the handlers would be uniformed, and Ragsdale said “we’re getting down into the weeds that we’re not going to talk about now.”

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