Enrolled  August 25, 2017
Passed  IN  Senate  August 24, 2017
Passed  IN  Assembly  April 20, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 22

Introduced by Assembly Member Baker
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Acosta, Aguiar-Curry, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonta, Burke, Caballero, Calderon, Cervantes, Chau, Chávez, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Eggman, Flora, Fong, Friedman, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez Fletcher, Gray, Grayson, Harper, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, Patterson, Quirk, Rendon, Reyes, Rodriguez, Rubio, Salas, Steinorth, Thurmond, Ting, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, and Wood)

February 14, 2017

Relative to the Detective Sergeant Thomas A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Highway.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


ACR 22, Baker. Detective Sergeant Thomas A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Highway.
This measure would designate a specified portion of Interstate 680 in the City of San Ramon in the County of Contra Costa as the Detective Sergeant Thomas A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Highway. The measure would also 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, erect those signs.
Fiscal Committee: YES  
WHEREAS, Detective Sergeant Thomas A. Smith, Jr., a 23-year veteran for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police Department, was accidentally fatally shot by a fellow officer, at 42 years of age, when he led a team of eight officers in a search of a robbery suspect’s apartment at 6450 Dougherty Road in Dublin, California, at about 2 p.m. on January 21, 2014; and
WHEREAS, Born in Hayward, California, in 1971, Detective Sergeant Thomas A. Smith Jr., known as Tommy to his family and friends, grew up to serve as a police officer in the bay area. Shortly after graduating from Moreau Catholic High School, he attended the police academy at the Alameda County Regional Training Center to train for the BART Police Department; and
WHEREAS, Detective Sergeant Tommy Smith dedicated himself to the BART Police Department. Joining the department at 19 years of age as a cadet, Tommy rose through the ranks, serving as a K-9 Handler, Field Training Officer, Recruit Training Officer for the Contra Costa County Law Enforcement Training Center [Class No.158], before becoming a detective and eventually being promoted to the rank of sergeant, where he became the leader of the BART Police Department’s Detective Unit; and
WHEREAS, On January 21, 2014, members of the detective unit converged on an apartment in Dublin, California, to perform a probation search belonging to a suspect in several robberies on BART property. During the search, an officer fired a single shot, which unfortunately hit Detective Sergeant Tommy Smith, missing his protective vest. Tommy was rushed to a hospital, but succumbed to his wound a short time later. He was the first BART police officer killed in the line of duty in its 42-year history; and
WHEREAS, As dedicated as he was to his career, Detective Sergeant Tommy Smith made family his first priority. In 1995, he met his wife, Kellie, a fellow BART police officer, whom he married in 2001. He made their daughter Summer a top priority. Summer was daddy’s little girl, and that bond between father and daughter never wavered. Two of Detective Sergeant Tommy Smith’s brothers are also police officers in other departments; and
WHEREAS, So it was not surprising, when driving home one day that Summer noticed that an exit number had been added to the Bollinger Canyon Road exit along Interstate 680. The Bollinger Canyon Road exit is now number “34.” Number 34 was Detective Sergeant Tommy Smith’s badge number; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates that portion of Interstate 680 from Bollinger Canyon Road to Crow Canyon Road in the City of San Ramon in the County of Contra Costa as the Detective Sergeant Thomas A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Highway; 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 that 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.