BILL NUMBER: SCR 83INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Negrete McLeod (Coauthor: Senator Huff) (Coauthor: Assembly Member Torres) MARCH 1, 2010 Relative to the Officer Russell M. Miller, Sr. Memorial Highway. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 83, as introduced, Negrete McLeod. Officer Russell M. Miller, Sr. Memorial Highway. This measure would designate a specified section of State Highway Route 60 in Chino as the Officer Russell M. Miller, Sr. Memorial Highway. The measure would also request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost for appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, erect those signs. Fiscal committee: yes. WHEREAS, Officer Russell M. Miller, Sr., a 12-year veteran of the Chino Police Department, died in the line of duty on February 1, 2000; and WHEREAS, Officer Miller was born on December 27, 1948; and WHEREAS, Upon graduating from Magnolia High School in Anaheim, California, in 1967, Officer Miller joined the United States Navy, where he served six years at the height of the Vietnam War; and WHEREAS, After leaving the Navy, Officer Miller held a series of jobs working as a welder, truck driver, and construction worker, and later applied to become a police officer; and WHEREAS, After completing training, Officer Miller graduated from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Academy on February 5, 1988, and joined the Chino Police Department, later acting in the capacity as a field training officer and part of the department's mounted enforcement team; and WHEREAS, Officer Miller was known as an officer who was well-liked and respected, and a stabilizing force in his patrol unit; and WHEREAS, In subsequent years, Officer Miller also became involved in family and community activities after his three children were born; and WHEREAS, Officer Miller coached Little League and assisted the United States Naval Sea Cadets Corps that his son, Russell Jr., belonged to; and WHEREAS, Officer Miller and his wife had also recently purchased 20 acres of land in Montana and were looking forward to retirement; and WHEREAS, However, on February 1, 2000, Officer Miller was involved in a routine traffic stop, and, while approaching the stopped vehicle, was struck from behind by a second vehicle, whose driver was under the influence of alcohol; and WHEREAS, Tragically, Officer Miller was critically injured, and was transported to a nearby trauma center where he died while undergoing surgery; and WHEREAS, Officer Miller was laid to rest on February 7, 2000; and WHEREAS, Law enforcement personnel came from throughout California, and as far away as Idaho and Utah, to attend Officer Miller's funeral service at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Chino Hills, California; and WHEREAS, The ceremony was punctuated by both tears and laughter as Officer Miller's colleagues recalled the man they knew, recounting his immense love for his family, and his skill as a police officer; and WHEREAS, At the end of the funeral service, one of Officer Miller' s daughters, Melissa, released a white dove in a symbolic release of her father; and WHEREAS, Officer Miller is survived by his wife Stephanie, his daughters Melissa and Sarah, his son Russell Jr., and his parents, sisters, and brother; and WHEREAS, Officer Miller's memory lives on through an annual memorial 5K "Run for Russ" race, established in 2001 in Chino, California, an event that brings the community together to celebrate Officer Miller's life and that forges stronger neighborhood bonds; and Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California hereby recognizes the contributions made by Officer Russell M. Miller, Sr. of the Chino Police Department to the people of the State of California and hereby designates the section of State Highway Route 60 between Mountain Avenue and Ramona Avenue in Chino as the Officer Russell M. Miller, Sr. 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 that special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the Department of Transportation and to the author for appropriate distribution.