K9 Turbo – Fresno, California

Died 7/10/22
Handler – Officer Matt Vincent

Fresno police K9 Turbo passes away

The Fresno Police Department is mourning the loss of one of its retired K9 officers. On Sunday, the department announced that K9 Turbo had passed away on Friday, June 24. Following Turbo’s passing, officers and their K9 partners lined up outside of a local animal hospital to give him a ‘proper salute and goodbye. Turbo began his career with the department in 2009 and was paired up with his handler, Officer Matt Vincent. For several years, Turbo remained a dedicated member of the K9 Unit before he was forced to retire in 2016 due to medical issues. “The K-9 unit would like to take this opportunity to thank K9 Turbo for his hard work and unwavering courage keeping the City of Fresno safe and always making sure officers went home safe,” Fresno police officials wrote in a Facebook post. After retiring, Turbo lived out the last of his years with the Vincent family.

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.