K9 Duke – Massachusetts State Police

Handler – Trooper Jack Doherty

Massachusetts State Police mourn death of K-9 Duke

“With deep sadness, we announce the recent passing of Massachusetts State Police K9 Duke. Duke was the partner of Trooper Jack Doherty since August 2014 and was certified in patrol and narcotics detection. Duke retired in 2021 and passed away last month, one month shy of his 11th birthday, which would have been today. Duke was a successful, dedicated and hard-working dog with a big heart. Duke loved the work of searching for people and narcotics. He also, however, loved community events, including demonstrations and meet-and-greets, including a book reading to children where he was able to just be a dog and received much-deserved attention from the kids.Over the years, Duke located many criminal suspects, lost hikers, runaways, people with suicidal thoughts, and people who were missing as a result of memory impairment.Duke was productive on the narcotics detection side as well, with seizures of multiple kilos of illegal narcotics and thousands of dollars in illicit drug money.Many times while tracking, Duke recovered relevant items or evidence. On one search, Duke located the murder weapons from a homicide, which had been discarded well off the road, away from the scene.Duke was an amazing partner and a beloved member of the Massachusetts State Police and Doherty families. He was a great ambassador of our Department and he is deeply missed. Free time Duke!

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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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