SUFFOLK, Va. — According to authorities, there’s been an uptick in bomb threats in Suffolk, which has spurred the fire marshal’s office to get a new tool for explosion detection: a dog named Knox.
Knox is a one-year-old German short-haired pointer from Poland. He just arrived last week and began training with his new handler on Tuesday. Knox will undergo 12 weeks of training to be able to sniff out explosive devices, gunpowder and more.
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Fire marshal Chris Cornwell told News 3 getting an explosives detection dog is in direct response to bomb threats going up by 50% in 2023. This school year they've responded eight times for threats at Suffolk Public Schools, contributing to learning loss for students.
“We don’t want them standing in the parking lot any longer than we can help it," said Cornwell.
His office has made arrests in seven of the eight incidents. While the threats have been hoaxes, he says they typically have to wait hours for other agencies to step in.
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“If we are able to immediately get in there and do sweeps of the building and deem them safe and get the students back inside and get our apparatus cleared, and are available to respond to other emergencies, then it’s a much better allocation of our available resources,” said Cornwell.
This is the first K-9 Suffolk Fire & Rescue has had; Suffolk Police Department also recently received an explosives dog. Both dogs were funded by the Suffolk speed cameras program.
