White Settlement First in State to Use Dogs to Sniff Out Guns and Ammo

WHITE SETTLEMENT (WBAP/KLIF News) – It’s a first for the state of Texas, a Tarrant County school district will use dogs to sniff out guns and ammo.

White Settlement Independent School District implemented a program this year.

The district said it’s going to be a random process in which students leave their backpacks or other belongings in classrooms as the dogs conduct their search.

“If the dog alerts on a back pack or a jacket with a drug dog well that’s self explanatory then we go through and take appropriate action. If it goes through with a gun residue sniffing dog then we take the student out of class,” said district Assistant Superintendent David Bitters.

Students would then go through a risk assessment in conjunction with their parents.

Bitters said some cases are considered low risk when ammo residue is detected from someone who may have recently gone hunting.

“But if it’s a student that doesn’t have access to that type of gun or they may be using illegal guns then at that point it’s an awareness for us and we need to be checking on that,” he said.

Bitters said the pilot program is free this year, but is worth the cost to the district in its efforts to keep students safe.