IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 290 
Honoring the lives, and mourning the loss, of Sergeant Mark Dunakin, 
Sergeant Ervin Romans, Sergeant Daniel Sakai, and Officer John Hege, 
members of the Oakland Police Department in California who were 
brutally slain in the line of duty. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 26, 2009 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mrs. 
TAUSCHER, Mr. BACA, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. THOMPSON of 
California, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of Cali-
fornia, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. STARK, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. HONDA, Ms. ZOE 
LOFGREN of California, Mr. FARR, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. COSTA, Mrs. 
CAPPS, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms. WATSON, Ms. 
ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. WATERS, Ms. HARMAN, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Ms. LORETTA 
SANCHEZ of California, Mr. FILNER, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. CAL-
VERT, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. ISSA, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. DANIEL 
E. LUNGREN of California, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. ROHRABACHER, and 
Mr. DREIER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary 
RESOLUTION 
Honoring the lives, and mourning the loss, of Sergeant Mark 
Dunakin, Sergeant Ervin Romans, Sergeant Daniel 
Sakai, and Officer John Hege, members of the Oakland 
Police Department in California who were brutally slain 
in the line of duty. 
Whereas, since May 17, 1792, when Deputy Sheriff Isaac 
Smith of the New York City Sheriffs Office was killed, 
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•HRES 290 IH 
more than 18,270 Federal, State, and local law enforce-
ment officers have died in the line of duty; 
Whereas, on Saturday, March 21, 2009, in Oakland, Cali-
fornia, Sergeant Mark Dunakin, Sergeant Ervin Romans, 
Sergeant Dan Sakai, and Officer John Hege, all of the 
Oakland Police Department, were killed by gunfire while 
serving in the line of duty; 
Whereas the senseless slaying of Sergeants Dunakin, Ro-
mans, and Sakai, and Officer Hege represents the first 
multiple-fatality shooting incident of law enforcement of-
ficers in the United States in more than a year, and the 
first time in more than 15 years that 4 law enforcement 
officers were killed by gunfire in the line of duty in a sin-
gle incident; 
Whereas the killing of Sergeants Dunakin, Romans, and 
Sakai, and Officer Hege represents the deadliest incident 
involving California public safety officers since the infa-
mous ‘‘Newhall Incident’’ occurred nearly 40 years ago in 
Los Angeles County on April 6, 1970, when 4 California 
highway patrolmen were killed in a gun battle with 2 
heavily armed suspects, an incident so traumatic and 
shocking to the Nation that it galvanized the movement 
to reform police training procedures, firearms use, and 
arrest techniques; 
Whereas the slaying of Sergeants Dunakin, Romans, and 
Sakai, and Officer Hege serve as a reminder that the 
risks assumed by police officers daily in serving and pro-
tecting their communities continue to be enormous, ever 
present, and lethal, even as the number of law enforce-
ment officers killed by gunfire in the United States has 
steadily declined over the last 20 years; 
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•HRES 290 IH 
Whereas the bravery, devotion to duty, and love of commu-
nity of these fallen heroes has forever earned them a 
place in the hearts and memories of the citizens they will-
ingly risked their lives to protect, an honor that comes 
at enormous cost to the people who knew them best, 
loved them most, and remember them simply as hus-
bands, fathers, brothers, sons, and friends; 
Whereas Sergeant Mark Dunakin of Tracy, California, was 
an 18-year veteran of the Oakland Police Department, a 
graduate of Chabot College in Hayward, California, an 
experienced homicide investigator, and according to his 
captain, ‘‘a cop’s cop,’’ who was ‘‘absolutely committed to 
anything that he leads’’ and absolutely devoted to his 
wife Angela and their 3 children; 
Whereas Sergeant Ervin ‘‘Erv’’ Romans of Danville, Cali-
fornia, was a 13-year veteran of the Oakland Police De-
partment, one of the most capable members of the Oak-
land Police SWAT Team, and highly respected for his 
work in the Narcotics Division of the Department, where 
he was responsible for solving several major drug cases; 
Whereas Sergeant Daniel Sakai of Castro Valley, California, 
was considered by his peers and supervisors as a rising 
star on the Oakland Police SWAT Team, where he served 
as leader of the entry team and was beloved for his dedi-
cation to serving others, as evidenced by his previous 
work as a community service officer at University of Cali-
fornia, Berkeley, escorting students around campus at 
night, and his tenure as an English teacher in Japan, but 
most of all by his devotion to his wife Jennifer and their 
young daughter; 
Whereas Officer John Hege of Concord, California, was a 10- 
year veteran of the Oakland Police Department who 
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•HRES 290 IH 
graduated from St. Mary’s College of California, taught 
at Tennyson High School in Hayward, California, loved 
both his dog and umpiring high school baseball games, 
and knew the incredible joy of realizing his cherished 
dream of becoming a motorcycle cop, and who could al-
ways be counted on by his colleagues to be one of the 
first to respond to requests for assistance or to cheerfully 
volunteer to help on departmental projects; and 
Whereas in the face of this horrible loss, the people of Oak-
land, California, have come together and rededicated 
themselves to making Oakland the safe and peaceful com-
munity that Sergeants Dunakin, Romans, and Sakai, and 
Officer Hege sacrificed their lives to preserve and defend: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives extends 
its condolences to the families and loved ones of Oakland 
Police Department Sergeant Mark Dunakin, Sergeant 
Ervin Romans, Sergeant Daniel Sakai, and Officer John 
Hege and stands in solidarity with the people of Oakland, 
California, their neighbors in the East Bay, and entire 
Bay Area community, as they celebrate the lives, and 
mourn the loss, of these 4 remarkable and selfless heroes 
who represented the best of their community and the fu-
ture the people of Oakland are determined to create for 
their children, grandchildren, and generations to come. 
Æ 
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