The Henry County Sheriff’s Office has expanded their capabilities to protect students and employees in our schools as well as the citizens of Henry County at public events. This has been accomplished by the addition of a K-9 Deputy named Erin and her handler Deputy Todd Powell. 

  Deputy Erin, a Belgian Malinois breed, was trained to detect a wide array of explosive materials ranging from gunpowder to sophisticated explosive ingredients in large or small quantities. Deputy Erin has similar character traits as Henry Sheriff’s K-9 Deputy Darci. Darci, also a Malinois, has worked as a drug dog with K-9 Handler Sergeant Jodey Powell for over 6 years. Deputy Darci has an outstanding record across the state for her accomplishments locating illegal narcotics. 

  The Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit now consists of three highly trained K-9 Deputy teams. There are two Malinois and a German Shepherd.  K-9 Zeke, the German Shepherd, and his handler Sergeant Frank Basile have been active for four years and are also trained to locate a wide range of narcotics. 

  Erin and Deputy Powell completed their “team” training on December 14, 2018. This training included working two major events including the Georgia – Alabama SEC conference game. Upon graduation K-9 Erin and Deputy Powell were awarded the honor of “Top Dog” for their skills during the five week Department of Homeland Security training class.

  Sheriff Keith McBrayer commented, “We have great expectations that Deputy Erin will be as successful in her duties as Deputies Darci and Zeke have been at the hands of their human partners. In today’s world we must do everything we can to prevent the worst from happening by finding the illegal or threatening items before they are used.”    Citizens are reminded that although the Sheriff’s dogs are not trained to be unfriendly they are working dogs and when they are on duty they will be highly focused on their jobs.