K9 Racky – Kewanee, Illinois

Handler – Lieutenant Bill Rivord

Kewanee K-9 officer laid to rest

A retired Kewanee K-9 officer was laid to rest on Friday. Racky, a Begian Malinois, was the fourth canine to serve in the line of duty during his stint as a working partner to the Kewanee Police Department. The K-9 officer had been retired since 2016. Kewanee Police Chief Troy Ainley reported that Racky, who resided with longtime partner and Kewanee Lieutenant Bill Rivord, died Tuesday. Cremation rites had been accorded and in a quiet processional held on Friday, Racky’s ashes were returned to his partner and brought back to Kewanee from the Vandemore Funeral Home in Geneseo. In May of 2007, the City of Kewanee purchased Rakki at the age of 15 months. The canine partnered with Lt. Rivord, a 2-year officer with the city police department at that time who was also named the new coordinator for the Kewanee K-9 program. Retired Kewanee Sgt. Chuck Russell had previously served for 16 years as the Kewanee K-9 coordinator and partnered with the city’s first three K-9 officers including Dino, in 1990, Breck from 1991-1999 and Gorby from 2000-2006. Currently Kewanee Officer Eric Peed is the handler for Rosco, Kewanee’s fifth K-9 officer. As one of his first responsibilities, Rivord had to learn how to vocalize the commands to his new K-9 partner in Dutch. Rakki had previously been engaged in formal obedience and police type training, learning the commands given in the Dutch language. Rivord and Racky engaged in collective and ongoing training, working with additional K-9 officers from other area police departments in addition to their own personal handler and trainer. Racky’s skills and training abilities included tracking, narcotics, and article and building searches. “The Kewanee Police Department and the citizens of Kewanee were blessed to have K-9 Rakki serve this community,” said Chief Ainley. “K-9 Racky and his handler, Lt. Rivord, were an inseparable tem that together located multiple fleeins suspects and large quantities of narcotics in their quest to keep the citizens safe. K9 Racky served for this community for many years and will be sorely missed.”

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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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