BILL NUMBER: ACR 33 CHAPTERED BILL TEXT RESOLUTION CHAPTER 73 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 23, 2011 ADOPTED IN SENATE JULY 14, 2011 ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2011 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 23, 2011 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 6, 2011 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Harkey MARCH 7, 2011 Relative to the Officer Richard T. Steed Memorial Highway. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST ACR 33, Harkey. Officer Richard T. Steed Memorial Highway. This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway Route 5 in the City of San Clemente as the Officer Richard T. Steed Memorial Highway. This measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering those costs, to erect those signs. WHEREAS, Richard (Rick) Thomas Steed was born on December 27, 1947, to Henry and Martha Steed, and grew up in Alexandria, Virginia with his brother Hank and sister Donna; and WHEREAS, During the summers of 1964 to 1967, he managed a community pool in Washington, D.C.; and WHEREAS, After completing high school Rick enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he served for eight years and rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant. During his service Rick spent one tour of duty in Vietnam as a radio technician in the Recon Platoon, and also served in Okinawa. Rick was awarded a Navy Commendation Medal, a Good Service Medal, and a Combat Action Ribbon. He also earned his jump wings; and WHEREAS, While still on active duty Rick became interested in law enforcement and became a reserve police officer with the San Clemente Police Department in July 1975; and WHEREAS, After receiving his associate of arts degree in criminal justice from Saddleback Community College, Rick was hired as a full-time police officer with the San Clemente Police Department on June 6, 1977. Officer Steed attended the Police Academy at Los Medanos College in Pittsburgh, California, where he was elected class president; and WHEREAS, Always quick with a smile or a joke, Rick was very popular with everyone from his fellow officers to the citizens he met on the job. Despite his sense of humor, Rick took his position very seriously. He was a very quick learner, and was described by a supervisor as a man who took pride in everything he did; and WHEREAS, On his final patrol shift, on November 29, 1978, Officer Steed answered a call for medical aid in an adjacent beat. Officer Steed announced his arrival to the dispatcher and indicated that he saw a subject approaching from behind his vehicle. As he exited the car and turned toward the subject, Officer Steed was immediately, and without provocation, shot twice with a .38 caliber handgun, and died from those injuries; and WHEREAS, A massive manhunt involving multiple law enforcement agencies resulted in apprehending the suspect and retrieving the murder weapon. The suspect was incarcerated in a state mental hospital; and WHEREAS, Officer Steed is the only San Clemente police officer to die in the line of duty; and WHEREAS, Officer Steed was enshrined on Honor Rolls in the Santa Ana Courthouse, Sacramento, and Washington, D.C., and named in the Honor Roll and Officer Down Memorial Internet Web sites, and on memorial bricks in the Vietnam section of the Saddleback College Veterans Memorial and at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia. Additionally, a 64-acre park and sports complex was named the Richard T. Steed Memorial Park, and a plaque prominently displayed at Park Semper Fi near the San Clemente Pier; and WHEREAS, Officer Steed was survived by his wife Kathy; and WHEREAS, In recognition of Officer Steed's great contributions, service, and sacrifice to the City of San Clemente, it would be a fitting tribute to designate a portion of State Highway Route 5 in the City of San Clemente as the Officer Richard T. Steed Memorial Highway; 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 5 between the Avenida San Luis Rey exit and the Camino De Estrella exit in the City of San Clemente as the Officer Richard T. Steed 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 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 Department of Transportation and to the author for appropriate distribution.