HABERSHAM COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

The Habersham County Sheriff's Office recognizes that a dog's sense of smell is much more sensitive than a human's. Canines can be trained to detect a wide variety of specific odors. Canines are trained to alert to the presence of these odors with a learned response such as sitting or lying quietly. K9 Roxy and her handler Sergeant Eugene Kemp have been serving the state of Georgia for Eight and a half years as part of the Explosive Ordinance Detection Team for Georgia Emergency Management (GEMA) and Homeland Security. They train to Homeland Security and GEMA standards and are required to obtain approximately 16 Hours of training every month. Their team demonstrate operational proficiency in their working environment. The Sheriff's Office successfully secured federal grant money through GEMA to help fund our Canine Unit. K9 Roxy is highly trained to detect explosives and firearms-related evidence. K9 Roxy and Sergeant Kemp's duties include working side by side with Federal and State Agents, and local police officers to seek out explosives, guns and spent ammunition evidence. In addition, they secure major public events, schools, and Federal buildings, statewide for explosives that may be in those areas.