Assembly Concurrent Resolution
No. 62
CHAPTER 139
Relative to the Detectives Mike Lane and John Pierce Memorial Highway.
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Filed with
Secretary of State
September 27, 2013.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 62, Ian Calderon.
The Detectives Mike Lane and John Pierce Memorial Highway.
This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway Route 72 as the Detectives Mike Lane and John Pierce Memorial Highway. The measure would request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
YES WHEREAS, Detective Mike Lane graduated from Loara High School in Anaheim and joined the Whittier Police Department on January 22, 1968, as a cadet, attaining the position of police officer on May 23, 1969; and
WHEREAS, In 1973, Detective Lane was assigned to the Whittier Police Department’s Detective Division, Criminal Tactical Unit, and Major Crime Investigations; and
WHEREAS, Detective Lane was also a member of the Southeast Burglary Investigation Team from its inception in April 1975, until March 4, 1977, when he became a detective in the Whittier Police Department’s Investigative Division, Narcotics Detail; and
WHEREAS, On December 13, 1979, Detective Lane was working undercover on a motorcycle theft investigation when he was attempting to buy back a stolen motorcycle from a local outlaw motorcycle gang when he was confronted by the suspects while still in his vehicle. Shots were exchanged and he sustained fatal injuries; and
WHEREAS, Detective John Pierce attended and graduated from El Rancho High School and Fullerton City College; and
WHEREAS, After a stint in the California National Guard, Detective Pierce joined the Whittier Police Department on October 2, 1967, as a uniformed patrol officer, and in the early 1970s, he served as a liaison officer in the Whittier Police Explorer Post; and
WHEREAS, In 1973, Detective Pierce was promoted to the Whittier Police Department’s Investigative Division, assigned to narcotics and vice, and later served on the Whittier Police Department’s SWAT Team; and
WHEREAS, In 1976, Detective Pierce attained the rank of agent. Detective Pierce also served as a training officer in the Whittier Police Department’s Investigative Division; and
WHEREAS, In April 1977, Detective Pierce was named the “California Outstanding Narcotics Officer” by the We Tip organization; and
WHEREAS, On September 21, 1976, while working on an undercover investigation regarding the sale of narcotics, Detective Pierce was assaulted by two subjects and sustained serious injuries. These injuries left him paralyzed from the neck down and ultimately resulted in his death on May 18, 1977; and
WHEREAS, These two heroic police officers, who were killed in the line of duty while protecting the community against dangerous criminals, will never be forgotten; and
WHEREAS, Although the Whittier Police Department has lost only these two officers in its 94-year history, and the wounds of these losses have healed over time, the significance of their sacrifices lives on; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the portion of State Highway Route 72 from the western entrance to State Highway Route 72 at the intersection of Penn Street and Whittier
Boulevard to the eastern entrance of State Highway Route 72 at the intersection of
Costa Glen Avenue and Whittier Boulevard as the Detectives Mike Lane and John Pierce Memorial Highway to honor these two brave police officers who were killed in the line of duty and requests that a sign be placed at each of these entrances that displays this designation; and be it further
Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with the signing requirements for the state highway system showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author for appropriate distribution.