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Remarks by District Attorney Steve Cooley
34th Annual Sheriff’s Memorial Ceremony
STARS Center Whittier
10:00 a.m., Thursday, May 1, 2003
  • We are here today to honor bravery, to salute dedication, to revere sacrifice.
  • Those whom we honor today have given the greatest sacrifice – their lives – to protect their fellow citizens.
  • In the District Attorney’s Office, we have a saying regarding the murder of peace officers – We do not forgive. We do not forget. We do not give up.
  • It is this spirit which drove us in the successful prosecution and conviction this year of a man who killed El Segundo police officers Richard Phillips and Milton Curtis more than 45 years ago.
  • It is this spirit which drove us to retry the penalty phase of a 1983 case involving the killer of West Covina Office Kenneth Scott Wrede. In less than two hours, the jury returned with a death penalty verdict -- again!
  • It is this spirit last month that resulted in a death penalty verdict for a gang member who killed Long Beach Police Officer Daryle Black; severely wounded his partner Rick Delfin; and shot a pregnant woman -- using a semi-automatic weapon and firing 28 rounds.
  • It is this spirit which drives us to keep the pressure on the federal government to reach a new extradition treaty with Mexico that will allow the return of the killer of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy David March to face American justice.
  • The March family has not received any justice
  • The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department family has not received any justice.
  • The Los Angeles County law enforcement family has not received any justice.
  • As I said earlier: We do not forgive. We do not forget. We do not give up.

That is the best way to honor David March, to honor the brave officers and deputies killed during the past year, to honor the men and women whose names are on the wall behind me.

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