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K-9s ‘Beans’ and ‘Fox’ training to go to school
Dogs joining SRO Division as ‘another layer’ of safety
SRO K-9 Beans
Sgt. Dustin Lanier of the Bulloch County Sheriff's Office K-9 Unit demonstrates the ability of 4-year-old German Shepherd "Beans" to sniff out narcotics during the introduction of two new K-9s on Tuesday, Sept. 9, who will work with school resource officers in Bulloch County's public schools. Lanier said Beans was donated to the Sheriff's Office by a local handler and was exposed to some basic training prior to joining the SRO team. He is tentatively scheduled to be placed at Southeast Bulloch High School on Sept. 29, though he will rotate regularly between all schools in the southern portion of the county. (SCOTT BRYANT/staff)

Bulloch County Schools soon will welcome two new attendees into the school district — "Beans" and "Fox."

Beans, a 4-year-old German Shepherd, and Fox, a 1-year-old Belgian Malinois, were introduced Tuesday as the newest — and first four-legged — members of the Bulloch County Sheriff's Office School Resource Officer Division.

"We are excited to announce that we are deploying two K-9s into our school resource officer division and they will be deployed mostly at high schools and middle schools," said Lt. Jimmy Billings, commander of the SRO Division. "They'll also be able to have a chance to do some community engagement and be at elementary schools."

Lt. Jimmy Billings
Lt. Jimmy Billings

According to Sgt. Dustin Lanier with the Sheriff's Office K-9 Unit, the SRO dogs will be used primarily to find illegal narcotics and in tracking situations, if needed.

Lanier said Beans was donated to the Sheriff's Office by a local handler and he was exposed to some basic training prior to joining the SRO team. He said Fox was purchased from a trainer in Florida and "he was imprinted on narcotics already prior to us getting him. We still have to go through other training to make sure they're up to our standards here in Bulloch County.

"Right now, the K-9s are in the beginning stages of their training," he said. "So far, we have implemented the narcotics detection and tracking with them. We may do firearms detection training at a later date."

The older dog Beans is tentatively scheduled to be placed at Southeast Bulloch High School on Sept. 29. While the high school will be his base, Billings said Beans will be in a fairly regular rotation of the schools in the south end of the county — SEB High and Middle, and Brooklet, Stilson and Nevils Elementary schools.

SRO K-9
K-9 "Beans" gets some attention from partner Dep. Travis Smallegan as the Bulloch County Sheriff's Office introduced two new K-9s set to join the SRO Division. Both dogs will be used to detect illegal narcotics and in tracking situations, if needed. (SCOTT BRYANT/staff)

Fox eventually will be based at Statesboro High School, but not fully until the 2026–27 school year begins next August. Billings, however, said Fox will be seen regularly at SHS and other Bulloch schools in the area on a regular basis.

SRO K-9
K-9 "Fox," a 1-year-old Belgian Malinois, enjoys his reward after demonstrating his skills on Tuesday. (SCOTT BRYANT/staff)

One of the differences, Billings said, between patrol K-9s and the SRO K-9s is that students, staff and the public will be able to pet Beans and Fox. Their training is strictly in detection and tracking and not in protection or attacking like patrol K-9s.

"Students can come and rub on them," Billings said. "We've already taken Beans into Southeast Bulloch High School and let him interact with a special needs class. And he did fantastic. The kids loved it. Kids will be able to come up to the dog and interact with these dogs."

Billings said he hopes to add a third dog to the SRO team in the future, so each high school area — Portal, Statesboro, Southeast Bulloch — will have a dedicated K-9 for all the schools in those specific areas.

"The goal of having the SRO dogs is the same with everything we do," Billings said. "They are another layer to help keep our schools and our students safe."