Steve Cooley is a career prosecutor who served three full terms as the District Attorney of Los Angeles County. He discussed his book “Blue Lives Matter” which explores the line-of-duty deaths suffered by the law enforcement “blue” family. This book examines the deaths of eight police officers and one police canine in Los Angeles County. The chapters portray the fallen officers and the canine as true heroes who each made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their community. The cases include the murder of two officers solved over 40 years later; an officer murdered in front of his young son; two officers kidnapped and taken to an onion field where one officer is executed; an undercover officer murdered during a multi-million dollar drug transaction; an off-duty officer murdered by two gang members while riding his bicycle.
Steve told of an officer slaying that occurred very close to us. On April 29, 2002 Sheriff Deputy David March was shot and killed after stopping a vehicle on Live Oak near Peck Road in Irwindale. The suspect had stated to friends that he wanted to kill a police officer during a traffic stop. The suspect intentionally got stopped and waited for Deputy March to get in front of his patrol car so he could open fire. Deputy March was shot several times in the head and chest. The suspect, who was identified shortly after the shooting, fled to Mexico. At the time the Mexican Supreme Court would not allow citizens to be extradited. Steve worked tirelessly to get that decision reversed. Through a public awareness campaign and working with legislators notably Senator Diane Feinstein his goal was reached. On February 23, 2006, the suspect was arrested in Mexico and extradited back to California. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A federal law now imposes financial sanctions on county’s that do not extradite criminals to the United States.