Special to The Dorchester Banner/Board of Education
Jerome Stover, assistant principal; Patricia Prosser, assistant principal; Michelle Ruark, assistant principal; James Phillips, Dorchester County sheriff; Dr. Henry Wagner, superintendent of Schools; Dave Bromwell, principal; Front: DFC Stephen Twilley and Eli.[/caption] CAMBRIDGE — Cambridge-South Dorchester High School, in partnership with the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office, will welcome Eli, a 1 year old K-9 officer as a new member of the School Resource Officer team. Like North Dorchester High School K-9 officer Sadie, Eli is a Labrador retriever and has received extensive training in K-9 responsibilities in a high school setting. Eli was purchased at 8 weeks old from a breeder on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The breeder is a graduate from Cambridge-South Dorchester High School and is now a corporal with the Maryland State Police. Eli has been trained by DFC Stephen Twilley with assistance from the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office and has become a fully trained and certified narcotics detection K-9. This partnership forged between the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office and Dorchester County Public Schools has resulted in a savings of about $10,000 to the taxpayers of the county and will allow the dog to be used in any school in the county at any time. DFC Twilley has been a K-9 handler for 9 years and has taken part in K-9 school scans since becoming a handler. Eli provides a passive alert to narcotics detection. Eli’s primary role will be to conduct periodic sweeps to sniff out illegal substances. For the most part, those sweeps occur several times a year with students and staff rarely interacting with Eli while school is in session. When Eli is not policing or performing special duties, he will be resting securely in a crate located in DFC Twilley’s office. A secondary benefit reported regarding the use of SRO K-9’s is the calming effect the dog has on school culture.