K9 Tank – Jefferson, Missouri

Retired Jefferson County K-9 officer who caught ‘most wanted’ suspect in 2019 dies

The Jefferson County Missouri Sheriff’s Office announced Monday afternoon that a retired K-9 officer, Tank, has died. In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, the office said they were sad to announce the passing of Tank. He was euthanized last week because of hip complications. “Tank was a valued member of the sheriff’s office family and was responsible for numerous criminal apprehensions, successful tracks and narcotics being taken off the streets,” the post read. The office also expressed its condolences to Tank’s handler. A lot of man-hours went into looking for the man, who was on the sheriff’s most wanted list as a suspect in several car thefts. Tank and his handler were on the scene at a nearby trailer park when the man fled. They tracked him for at least a mile before he was eventually captured. If it wasn’t for Tank, the suspect may have eluded the sheriff’s department again. Cpl. Jason Clardy said that canine officers are not only like family to their handlers but also the entire sheriff’s department.

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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.
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