K9 Pax – Joplin, Missouri

Died – 5/15/22
Handler- Officer Bobby Brown

Joplin Police mourn loss of retired K9 Pax

The Joplin Police Department is sad to announce the unexpected passing of retired JPD K9 Pax Sunday morning. Pax retired from the Joplin Police Department on January 17th, 2021 after racking up a very successful career at JPD. During his time working the streets and tracking down bad guys, Pax had over 500 vehicle searches, 100 building searches, 40 suspect apprehensions, and located 1,631.8 grams of Meth, 1,444.8 grams of Marijuana, 8 grams of Heroin, and 63 grams of Cocaine. Following his retirement from police work, he lived at home with his former handler, Officer Bobby Brown. Pax would have been 12 years old this year. Thank you Pax for your service to our community.

Submitted By Jim Cortina

James A. Cortina has been involved with police dogs since 1972 and currently on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. Jim has been appointed as Treasurer since its inception in 1991. Jim is one of the charter members of the C.P.W.D.A. organization. Since 1975 he has been a certified professional dog trainer and received his Master Trainer Certification in 1985. During his career he has provided armed K-9 strike crowd control for security agencies in Connecticut and out of state security companies. In conjunction with other members of the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. Board of Directors, he helped to draft Connecticut Statute 53-247(e) "Intentional Injury or Killing of Police K-9" which was passed by the Senate in 1993 and also assisted in implementing the prestigious Daniel Wasson Memorial K-9 Award in 1992. In 1993 he helped coordinate the North American Police Work Dog Association Nationals in New London, Connecticut. He was appointed Training Director for the New London County Work Dog Association from 1985-1987. He performed decoy work for Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. in police K-9 demonstrations, trained several local police department canines, and coordinated training workshops for out-of-state police departments. He participated in the United States Police K-9 Association Trials in Croton on Hudson, New York in 1985 as a decoy. He is an avid photographer and received photography awards in 1989, 1990, and 1991 and currently takes photographs for the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc.