K9 Junior – Pataskala, Ohio

Handler – Officer Morton

Pataskala PD mourning loss of K-9 Officer Junior

Junior and Morton previously worked for the Licking County Sheriff’s Office, Pataskala Police Chief Bruce Brooks said. Morton retired, but joined the Pataskala department part time about five years ago. “Junior still had a lot of life left in him, and well, so did Randy. He didn’t want to quite give it up yet.” Brooks said. Morton and Junior would work the opposite days of Pataskala’s other K-9 officer, Scott McClellan, and his dog, Joker. Junior had gone out with Pataskala officers for their “Shop with a Cop” event Dec. 18. “He always comes out and enjoys that and hanging with the kids,” Brooks said. Because of his age, Junior mostly worked drug cases. A few weeks ago, Junior did drug sweeps at Licking Heights Middle and High schools. “He was slowing down a little bit but still liked coming to work and hanging out with Randy,” Brooks said. Junior would also attend department events and visit schools, Brooks said. The department has not decided if there will be a police memorial service for Junior and is leaving that up to Morton. Because of the unexpected nature of Junior’s death, the department is giving Morton and his family some time to decide what they would like. Brooks said it still has Joker, but he is now the department’s only K-9 officer. Another K-9 officer will likely be obtained in the future, but the timeline has not been determined. “Everybody’s still kind of hurting and in shock,” Brooks said. “We’ll get through this and go from there.”

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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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