K9 Harris – Princeton, New Jersey

Died 8/25/22
Handler – Lt. Matt Solovay

Retired Princeton Police K-9 Harris Dies At Age 9

Retired K-9 Harris, who served the Princeton Police Department, has died at age 9, the police department said Thursday.Harris was the first K-9 officer in the history of the police department. Born in the Czech Republic on Jan. 12, 2013, Harris joined the Princeton Police Department a year later on Jan. 29, 2014. He served the department and community for over seven years, retiring in 2020.K-9 Harris attended and graduated from the NJ State Police Scent Detection Class 29 and the NJ State Police K9 Patrol Class 15. He was a member of the NJ Detect and Render Safe Task Force. Throughout his career, Harris worked on over 130 explosive-related sweeps and incidents and performed over 60 K-9 demonstrations for schools, summer camps, and community groups, Princeton police said.”Our hearts and prayers go out to Lt. Matt Solovay and his family. Harris was not only a trusted partner to Lt. Solovay, but also a beloved family member,” the police department said. “He will greatly be missed by all of the men and women of the Princeton Police 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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