As a tribute to fallen police officer Jacob Derbin, who died in the line of duty last year, the Veterans & First Responders (VFR) Foundation last week gave a newly-graduated police K-9 to the Euclid Police Department in Derbin’s name.

On Friday, June 27, Chinook—a 14-month-old Belgian Malinois/German Shepherd mix from Slovakia—officially became a K-9 officer ready for active duty. A graduation ceremony and demonstration were held at Excel K-9 Services in Hiram, where Chinook trained for six weeks.

Euclid Police Officer Jacob Derbin #14Derbin was fatally shot in the line of duty on May 11, 2024, when he was ambushed while answering a domestic disturbance call. He was 23 years old. The Euclid Police Department posthumously awarded Derbin the Medal of Honor—the highest honor awarded by the department.

As Army National Guard veteran who served in Kuwait working on CH-47 Chinook helicopters, Derbin’s friends and colleagues say the dog’s name has great meaning. Derbin joined the police department following his military service.

Derbin dreamed of one day becoming a K-9 handler like his father, Euclid Police Officer Vince Trusso, who has had three dogs throughout his 15 years as a handler officer. He is currently one of four officers in Euclid’s K-9 unit, with his police K-9, Nik.

Now that Chinook is a graduate, Trusso and Nik will be sharing duties with the dog that reflects his son’s dream and Chinook’s handler, Officer Jeremy Puszakowski. “It’s a great honor,” says Trusso, 53.

Becoming a Howling Hero

Chinook’s journey to becoming a police dog has been funded entirely through the VFR Foundation’s Howling Heroes program. VFR is a nonprofit in Mentor-on-the-Lake that provides resources, services, and innovative programming for men, women who serve and their families.

Through Howling Heroes, charitable contributions are used towards care costs for retired first responder K-9s.

Just weeks after Derbin’s passing, VFR founder and CEO David Knott reached out to the Euclid Police Department— offering a K-9 for Derbin’s department. Chinook is the first K-9 to be acquired through Howling Heroes and Knott says he plans to offer additional K-9 officers to area police departments through the nonprofit program.

“When we realized his [Derbin’s] department has a K-9 program, and he was going to be a K-9 officer like his father Vince is, that’s when I started getting the idea,” explains Knott. “[I asked myself], ‘What can we do here that could leave an impression and be something that would benefit the community and the department?’ It was about making a difference. It was a tribute to Jacob.”

Handler Puszakowski, 34, has been with the Euclid Police Department for two years, working with Derbin for one of the two years, sometimes on the same shift.

“Jacob and I were friends,” Puszakowski says. “I had calls with him, so it was very important to me that whoever was chosen to be the handler for Chinook, [also] had a relationship with Jacob.”

So, Puszakowski expressed his interest and ultimately became Chinook's handler.

K-9 trainer Ryan Shaughnessy (left) watches as Officer Jeremy Puszakowski and K-9 Chinook meet for the first time.“It was pretty emotional,” Knott recalls of the moment Chinook and Puszakowski first met. “We bring him out into the field and watch Jeremy walk over to him and Chinook kind of stood up on his back legs and he was kind of hugging Jeremy.” Knott snapped a photo of the hug.

The duo has been training with Excel K-9 Services for the past six weeks. Puszakowski says it was a proud moment on graduation day last Friday when he and Chinook joined 14 other handlers and K-9s for the ceremony. One other Euclid officer, Paul Jablonski, graduated in the same class with his K-9 Cozemo, bringing the Euclid K-9 unit to four dogs in two years.

Prior to the ceremony, each handler showed the crowd of friends, family, and co-workers what they are now trained to do. During a drill, Chinook demonstrated his ability to find a hidden firearm.

Learning a specialty

K-9s train to be patrol dogs, but they are also trained in a specialty, such as narcotics. Chinook’s superpower is he’s highly trained in gun detection—the same kind of threat that took Derbin’s life.

“He will be able to go into Euclid schools, he will be able to do parameter checks at football games and soccer games,” Trusso says. “There’s going to be a lot of functions where we’re going to be able to use him.”

Puszakowski, too, is laser focused on what he and Chinook will be able to bring to the table together.

“When I’m working and patrolling, when I’m doing traffic stops and investigative work—my go-to is to try to look for illegal firearms,” he explains. “What I mean by illegal firearms is people who should not be in possession of firearms. So, having Chinook as an addition to our department is going to help out even more. He will be an extreme asset.”

Trusso says Chinook and Puszakowski are great partners. “We picked Chinook for Jeremy,” he says. “We just watched them evolve over the last six weeks at the K-9 academy.”

Puszakowski agrees.

“Since day one, we [worked] together very well,” he explains. “Ever since then, it’s been perfect. I can’t even say we’ve had any hiccups in training. He has excelled in everything.”

VFR Foundation founder David Knott; Chinook’s handler, Jeremy Puszakowski; and Vince Trusso, father of Jacob Derbin.VFR founder Knott says the officer and K-9 were meant to work together. “There was a bond that was already occurring there,” he says of the first day Puszakowski and Chinook met.

“I set a really high standard for the both of us,” says Puszakowski, adding that he plans to continue training Chinook to push the limit of their abilities to make a positive change.

“When other agencies call for us—if they need help finding a gun or if a firearm was discarded during a pursuit—I want them to know that if they hear that Chinook and I are coming, they’re in good hands,” he says.

Trusso adds, “They’re going to mold into a really good team over the next few years.”

The legacy of Jacob Derbin

After 60 to 70 hours each week training together, the pair’s bond has grown. When Chinook retires, he will stay with the Puszakowski family, which includes his wife, a seven-year-old son, and five-year-old twins—a boy and a girl.

Chinook has lived with the Puszakowski family since the two were assigned to be partners. But even at home, it’s about work—for now.

“He came home with me on day-one of school,” says Puszakowski, adding that since Chinook is still young, he will need continuous training post-graduation, even when he’s off duty at home.

“Over-socializing him will hinder that work mode,” he explains. “Eventually, he will be able to socialize more with the family.”

Puszakowski fondly reflects Derbin’s commitment to the force, and Derbin’s desire to one day be a K-9 officer. “Jacob was an extremely hard worker for the time that we had him,” he recalls, noting, “he showed up to work an hour early most days.”

Chinook has now become a part of Derbin’s legacy at the Euclid Police Department, as the rookie K-9 officers protect the community Derbin once served.

Although Trusso had a hand in the year-long process of getting a police K-9 on the force, he wants the focus to remain on his son.

“It’s not about me,” he says, “I’m the father of a hero.”

He says Friday’s ceremony elicited beautiful memories of Derbin, both as a person and a police officer.

“Yes, he was a Euclid police officer, and he died in the line of duty,” says Trusso, “but there’s so much about him that I want to fill people’s hearts with. And there’s so much I could tell you to make you smile, make you happy, make you cry, make you laugh.”

So what does Trusso want people to know about his son?

“Just his being genuine, his passion for his life, and for his fiancé, Liv,” Trusso says. “That was so impressive—to sit back and watch my oldest son be in love and figure out his plan.

“Also, [I want people to know] the passion he had with his brothers and his mother,” Trusso continues. “He’s missed, that’s for sure.”