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Photo included in DCPS police report shows handgun in center console (DCPS Police)School board policy prohibits firearms on campus<\/p>\nDUVAL COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 A police report is revealing new details about a weapons charge against a Duval County principal. <\/p>\n
Michael Smith, principal at Baldwin Middle-Senior High School, was issued a Notice to Appear on Sept. 15 on a charge of possession of a firearm on school property, a second-degree misdemeanor. He was not taken into custody.<\/p>\n
Tip leads to K-9 deployment<\/p>\n
According to his arrest report, Duval County School Police received a tip that a firearm was present on school grounds, prompting Chief of Police Jackson Short and another officer to respond to the school in Baldwin.<\/p>\n
Officers met with Smith in his office, where Chief Short read him his constitutional rights from a printed form. Smith signed the form, acknowledging he understood those rights, according to the report. <\/p>\n
Chief Short told Smith that a tip had been received alleging he had a handgun inside his vehicle, which was parked on school property. According to the report, Smith acknowledged owning a firearm but declined to consent to a search of his vehicle, saying his firearms were kept at his home.<\/p>\n
K-9 Maverick deployed<\/p>\n
Officers then deployed K-9 Maverick, a trained and certified firearms-detection canine, to conduct an exterior sniff of approximately 11 vehicles parked in the school\u2019s front parking lot. Smith was only asked to identify the general area where his vehicle was parked \u2014 officers said they intentionally did not want to know which specific vehicle was his in order to protect the integrity of the sniff.<\/p>\n
As Maverick worked his way around the vehicles, the dog displayed a distinct change in behavior near the driver\u2019s-side door of one truck \u2014 focusing intensely on the bottom seam of the door, changing his breathing pattern and ultimately sitting, which is his trained final indication for the odor of a firearm.<\/p>\n
At Smith\u2019s request, Maverick was deployed a second time. The K-9 repeated the same behavior and gave the same indication at the same location.<\/p>\n
Following the second positive indication, Smith provided consent to search his vehicle, according to police. Chief Short says he located a Sig Sauer P226 .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun inside the center console, stored in a cloth holster with a loaded magazine containing 13 rounds of live ammunition. The firearm and all associated items were secured as evidence.<\/p>\n
Photo included in DCPS police report shows handgun in center console (DCPS Police)School board policy prohibits firearms on campus<\/p>\n
The Duval County School Board has waived a provision that would otherwise allow certain individuals to possess a firearm on school property. As a result, no one \u2014 including employees \u2014 may possess a firearm in any vehicle parked on school grounds, whether the vehicle is locked or unlocked.<\/p>\n
Smith was then issued a Notice to Appear.<\/p>\n
According to the report, K-9 Maverick indicated the presence of firearm odor on two additional vehicles during the sniff. Both were searched and found to contain no firearms. The owners of those vehicles acknowledged having recently possessed firearms inside the vehicles while off school property.<\/p>\n
Smith reassigned by school district <\/p>\n
Smith has been removed from campus and reassigned to his home while a criminal investigation and a district investigation are conducted. He is not permitted to report to any school or other district work location during the investigation.<\/p>\n