The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office has announced the addition of Liberty, an 11-month-old bloodhound, to its K-9 Unit. Liberty is trained in scent discrimination trailing and tracking.
Deputy Barry Bales, who has worked with the Sheriff’s Office for 17 years and has been a K-9 handler for three years, will partner with Liberty. Deputy Bales previously worked with K-9 Shax, who retired after three years of service.
Sheriff Craig Owens stated, “Liberty will play an important role in supporting our mission to enhance public safety. Her advanced tracking skills will assist in locating missing persons and suspects, as well as strengthening our community engagement.”
Liberty is described as playful and enjoys stuffed animals during her free time. The Sheriff’s Office plans to introduce Liberty to the community soon as she begins her work alongside Deputy Bales.
Cobb County schools enrolled 115,076 students during the 2022-23 school year according to data from the Georgia Department of Education (https://www.gadoe.org/). White students made up 33% of the student body that year (https://www.gadoe.org/). Enrollment increased by less than 0.1% compared to the previous year (https://www.gadoe.org/).
