K9 Lenox – Alaska State Police

Handler – Trooper Brian Hibbs

Alaska State Troopers mourn the loss of K-9 Lenox, who passed away unexpectedly

It is with deepest sadness that we announce the passing of Alaska State Trooper K9 Lenox. K9 Lenox suffered a medical emergency while off-duty and passed on December 3, 2024. His passing comes just a few months short of his scheduled retirement.K9 Lenox began his career as an Alaska State Trooper in September 2019. He was assigned to Trooper Brian Hibbs in Fairbanks where he was stationed throughout his career. K9 Lenox was named after fallen Alaska State Trooper Gabe “Lenox” Rich who was killed in the line of duty on May 1, 2014.K9 Lenox and his handler were first certified as a Drug Detection K9 Team in October 2019 and continued through the AST Patrol Dog Academy, receiving their Dual-Purpose Certification in November 2019. Only a few days following his initial drug certification, K9 Lenox was called to assist the Fairbanks Area Wide Narcotics Team where K9 Lenox located a large amount of methamphetamine and heroin with an approximate street value of $50,000. From there, K9 Lenox never slowed down. Throughout his 5 year career with AST, K9 Lenox deployed with his handler over 450 times resulting in the seizure of hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal drugs and assets, and dozens of violent offenders apprehended. K9 Lenox was one of the most requested K9s in the AST program and was regularly sought out by other local, state, and federal agencies throughout Alaska to assist in various investigations. K9 Lenox is also credited with actions that directly saved both the life of his handler as well as the victim of a heinous DV crime.While gaining a well-deserved reputation as being a highly reliable patrol K9, K9 Lenox also gained a reputation as being one of the most social dogs in the AST K9 Program. K9 Lenox and his handler constantly fulfilled requests for appearances from schools, youth organizations, and special needs groups.The sudden and unexpected passing of K9 Lenox is deeply felt not only by his handler and the AST family but the entire community in which he served.

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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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