K9 VooDoo – Cumberland, Maryland

Handler – Patrolman First Class Trevor Baluch

Cumberland canine officer passes away

The Cumberland Police Department (CPD) announced on Monday that one of their canine officers had passed away overnight. CPD said that VooDoo had passed away suddenly after an illness. He had been a partner to Patrolman First Class Trevor Baluch since April 2022.During his time with the police department, VooDoo — who was trained in drug detection, tracking and article searches — played a key part in law enforcement.“VooDoo did a lot of good work for our community and was instrumental in recovering contraband and solving crimes, making this community safer. He will be missed,” CPD said in a release.

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.