K9 Ice – Washington State Police

Died 9/4/16
Handler – Trooper Genoway

Washington State Patrol K-9 narcotics officer dies from cancer

WSP spokesperson Trooper Rick Johnson, who had worked alongside Genoway and Ice, called the K-9 officer “high energy.” “You would get near the car … and he would bark like he was going to jump out and attack you, but he wouldn’t hurt anybody,” Johnson said. “His job, he did it very well.” Three narcotic detection teams were deployed in 1998 to counties identified by High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) in the central Puget Sound region and Yakima. Because of the program’s success, eight additional narcotic detection teams were added to Washington’s remaining HIDTA counties. According to the WSP Canine Training Unit, the narcotic teams provide support for the field force, local task forces, and federal agencies on multi-jurisdictional warrants. As a narcotics dog, Ice had different responsibilities than the nine bomb-sniffing K9 officers that graduated for the WSP on Friday. K-9 officers live with their handles but are not treated as normal family dogs until after the dogs retire and are adopted by the handler as a pet, Johnson said. This was Trooper Genoway’s second K-9 partner and he’s expecting to team up with another. “There’s definitely a huge bond between the handler and the dog,” Johnson said. “…“It’s been an emotional few days or week for (Genoway) but he’ll definitely get through this and he’s got a lot of support around him.”

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.