K9 Diesel – Cobb, Georgia

Handler – Officer Mark Blakeney

Cobb Police’s retired K9 Diesel dies

Diesel, a K9 officer who retired in August from the Cobb County Police Department, died over the March 10 weekend. A Belgian Malinois from Czechoslovakia, Diesel was born on April 23, 2006 and paired with his new handler Officer Mark Blakeney on Feb. 12, 2007. Together they began a rigorous 12-week police canine training program that culminated in their first national certification with the North American Police Work Dog Association. They obtained nearly 5,000 hours of canine training during their partnership. Over the course of their career together, K9 Diesel and Blakeney successfully completed numerous additional national certifications in narcotics detection, tracking, criminal apprehension and evidence recovery through the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association and North American Police Work Dog Association, often holding two certifications per year. In their 10 years together, K9 Diesel and Blakeney tracked and located more than 100 criminals to include burglars, armed robbers and murder suspects and found more than 15 guns used in the commission of those crimes. They also made nearly 400 narcotics arrests, seized $1.5 million in drug money and detected greater than $13.2 million in illegal narcotics. Diesel spent his retirement, living with Blakeney and his family.

Tags

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.
| Old Memorials | Site Map
Copyright © 1973 - 2024 Louise Krause Memorials to Fallen K-9's Hosted By PC-GEEK Site Maintained BY Jim Cortina