BILL ANALYSIS
ACR 127
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Date of Hearing: March 22, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
ACR 127 (Adams) - As Introduced: February 16, 2010
SUBJECT : State Route 15
SUMMARY : Designates a segment of State Route (SR) 15 as the CHP
Officer Larry Lynn Wetterling and San Bernardino County
Sheriff's Lieutenant Alfred E. Stewart Memorial Highway.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Recounts the lives and careers of Larry Lynn Wetterling and
Alfred E. Stewart, law enforcement officers who lost their
lives in related incidents in the line of duty.
2)Designates the segment of SR 15 between its junction with SR
215 and Oak Hill Road, in the Counties of Riverside and San
Bernardino, as the CHP Officer Larry Lynn Wetterling and San
Bernardino County Sheriff's Lieutenant Alfred E. Stewart
Memorial Highway.
3)Requests the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) 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 that cost, to erect those
signs.
EXISTING LAW : Assigns Caltrans the responsibility of operating
and maintaining state highways. This includes the installation
and maintenance of highway signs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : March 9, 1973, California Highway Patrol (CHP)
Officer Larry Lynn Wetterling stopped to assist a driver along
the southbound side of SR 15. The driver, who was a recently
paroled convict, killed Officer Wetterling and stole his patrol
car. Having been notified that there was a paroled convict out
on a killing rampage, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Lieutenant
Alfred E. Stewart answered the call and found the criminal but,
unfortunately, Lieutenant Stewart was also killed.
ACR 127
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Larry Lynn Wetterling joined the CHP in 1967, and graduated from
the CHP Academy in 1968. His first assignment was in the
Riverside area until he transferred to the San Bernardino area
in 1970.
Alfred E. Stewart served in the Korean War as a US Marine and
with the North Bergen (New Jersey) Police Force before hired by
the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department in 1964. He was
one of the founding members of the California Narcotics
Officer's Association and served as the eighth president in
1972. In 1973, the California Narcotics Officer's Association
created the Alfred E. Stewart Memorial Award to honor the
individual achievements of working narcotic officers.
Technical concern : This bill's proposed route segment
designation - "The CHP Officer Larry Lynn Wetterling and San
Bernardino County Sheriff's Lieutenant Alfred E. Stewart
Memorial Highway" contains a larger number of characters than is
typical for a memorial designation sign. This may result in
Caltrans having to fabricate signs with fairly small lettering.
The author or sponsors may wish to consult with Caltrans to
determine whether a designation with fewer characters would be
advisable.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of Highway Patrolmen (sponsor)
San Bernardino County Safety Employees Benefit Association
Opposition
None received
ACR 127
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Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093