K9 Tahoe – Hudson County, New Jersey

Handler – Officer Joseph Barone

Hudson County Sheriff’s Office pay their respects to officer Tahoe

“Today is a very sad day for the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office. We lost one of out K-9 officers,” Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari said on Friday. Tahoe began his career in October 2009, training with the Holmdel-Scotch Plains Canine Academy, and graduating in May 2010. Tahoe also graduated from the New Jersey State Police K9 Academy in June of 2010 and was a part of the Render Safe Task Force. During his tenure with the sheriff’s office, Tahoe and his handler, Officer Joseph Barone, assisted in numerous explosive sweeps and patrol-related K9 functions. “Officer Tahoe will be missed by this agency, he was a 12-and-a-half year old German Shepard, he served the people of Hudson County with honor and distinction,” Schillari added, noting that Tahoe was also on call for the state police and their federal partners as well.

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.