K9 Yaku – North Chicago, Illinois

Died 12/29/24
Handler – Sgt. Donald Florance

Retired North Chicago police canine dies after serving 7 years with police department

A former North Chicago police canine who retired in 2020 has died after serving seven years with the department, during which time he suffered a duty-related injury.North Chicago Police Department Canine Yaku retired from the department in late 2020. He served seven years with the department.North Chicago Assistant Police Chief Gary Lunn said Yaku had success during his tenure.Yaku assisted 37 other agencies in various crimes, conducted 210 vehicle open-air sniffs, assisted in 39 multi-agency search warrants, assisted in 23 article recovery searches and assisted in 42 school narcotics searches.He was deployed 36 times to track and apprehend suspects, of which 16 were apprehended after surrendering without a bite occurring.Lunn said Yaku assisted in the seizure of 37 firearms, 3,458 grams of cannabis, 890 grams of cocaine, 33 grams of heroin, 1,502 tabs of LSD and 166 illegal use pills.
The canine also helped in the seizure of $62,478 cash and participated in 12 community events.North Chicago Police Department Sgt. Donald Florance, who was Yaku’s handler, said a ceremony was held on December 29 for Yaku, who was 14 years old.Yaku was transported to the animal hospital to be put down following the walkout ceremony, which was attended by first responders.Florance said Yaku’s passing was due to quality of life. “It was just time.”The canine suffered a hip displacement and issues with his knees due to a duty-related injury, Florance said.Florance is also the handler of Canine Six, who joined the North Chicago Police Department in the fall of 2020 after Yaku’s retirement.Six remains active with the department and is certified in several areas, including patrol, tracking, search, apprehension, narcotics and detection.

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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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