California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 62

Introduced by Assembly Member Ian Calderon

May 31, 2013

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 62—Relative to the Detectives Mike Lane and John Pierce Memorial Highway.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 62, as introduced, Ian Calderon. The Detectives Mike Lane and John Pierce Memorial Highway.

This measure would designate a specified portion of State 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.

Fiscal committee: yes.

WHEREAS, Detective Mike Lane graduated from Loara High
School, 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 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 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 Route 72 from the western entrance to State Route
72 at the intersection of Norwalk and Whittier Boulevards to the
eastern entrance of State Route 72 at the intersection of Valley
Home 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.