CRESTVIEW — Crestview High School and Shoal River Middle School students noticed a familiar furry face on campus this week.
Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Mark Nucci and his K-9 partner Kilo show up unexpectedly at area schools during the academic year.
A number of students take the duo’s visits in stride.
“I think it’s pretty awesome,” junior Dakota Wells said. “I think it keeps the school safer.”
While some students are afraid of dogs, Nucci said Kilo, a yellow Labrador, is less intimidating than German shepherds. “Most of the time, the kids just want to pet him,” he said. “He’s very calm.”
DRUG DETERRENT
The duo’s biggest task is deterring illegal drug use, Nucci said. Kilo is trained to alert upon scenting four base substances and the drugs derived from them.
‘The biggest category falls under meth and the other drugs that they make out of it,” Nucci said.
During their patrol with school resource officer Dep. Randall Joiner and administrators, the unit visits classrooms, cars in the parking lot and lockers.
“It’s a mix of random and specific,” Crestview High dean of students Ben Kimbrough said. “Sometimes, we get tips on certain students but most of the time it’s pretty random.”
KILO SEEKS
As Joiner, Kimbrough, Nucci and Kilo enter Cari Ruschmeier’s English class, Joiner apologizes for the intrusion.
He instructs students to place their belongings on the floor, keep their hands on their desks, and above all, “Please don’t pet the dog. He’s working. Let him do his job.”
Kilo, responding to Nucci's "seek" commands, trots up and down rows of desks, and pauses now and then to quickly sniff a backpack.
“What he was finding was new odors,” Nucci said of the pauses. “All those odors were animal smells. The kids probably have pets at home.”
No illicit substances were found at Crestview High that morning, and Nucci said that’s what he and Kilo like.
It’s also what administrators like.
“We want K-9s here at Crestview High School,” Principal Dexter Day said. “They’re a part of our school. They keep our school safe.”
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Top dog on campus: Sheriff's K-9 unit patrols area schools