[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 16] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page 23712] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]RANGEMASTER JOSEPH BOYD ______ HON. LORETTA SANCHEZ of california in the house of representatives Wednesday, October 18, 2000 Ms. SANCHEZ. Ms. Speaker, today I have the opportunity to remember and pay tribute to a great man from my community. Joseph Samuel Boyd, the Santa Ana Police Department's Rangemaster, played an integral role in helping to make the streets of Santa Ana safer for all its citizens. Rangemaster Boyd was dedicated to a life of public service. After serving 24 years in the Marine Corps, including time in Vietnam, and rising in rank from boot recruit to the Officer rank of ``Major'', Rangemaster Boyd entered a life of law enforcement. After his retirement from the Marine Corps, Rangemaster Boyd became the firearms instructor for the Orange County Sheriff's Department until he was hired by the Santa Ana Police Department in 1993. During his tenure with the Santa Ana Police Department, Rangemaster Boyd developed a comprehensive training curriculum in firearm proficiency and safety for the Department's 400 officers. The system he developed, ``Advanced Firearms Simulator Training'' is a state-of-the- art system which simulates real life situations police officers encounter daily. It puts them in real-life situations and requires them to rapidly evaluate and assess a ``shoot/don't shoot'' scenario. This is now a widely-used training method at law enforcement agencies throughout the country. In 1995, Rangemaster Boyd played a pivotal role in obtaining a Bureau of Justice Assistance grant for the Santa Ana Police Department's Firearms Trafficking Program. This program allies the Department's Weapons Interdiction Team with the FBI and ATF in combating illegal firearms trafficking. The program proved to be an unqualified success and Rangemaster Boyd was an integral part of the team effectiveness, as he examined and tested firearms for ballistics evidence. It was, however, in this capacity that Rangemaster Boyd lost his life. On January 28, 1998, Officer Boyd was testing an outlawed, nine millimeter ``MAC 11'' machine pistol for ballistics evidence. During the testing, the gun jammed. In an attempt to un-jam the gun, it tragically misfired, killing Rangemaster Boyd. A devoted family man, Rangemaster Boyd is survived by his wife of 34 years, Marion, two adult children, and two grandchildren. The loss of Rangemaster Boyd left a void that still resonates today. Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of this tragic story. Since Rangemaster Boyd was not a ``sworn'' law enforcement officer, his family was not entitled to the Department of Justice's Public Safety Officers Benefits. Rangemaster Boyd was a ``civilian'' working in a law enforcement capacity. These Department of Justice's Public Safety Officers Benefits provide financial relief to family members of law enforcement officers who've lost their lives in the line of duty. Rangemaster Boyd gave his life in the line of duty, in a law enforcement capacity, and his family deserved these benefits. For the past three years, I have worked to correct this wrong. I introduced legislation, H.R. 513 in the House of Representatives which would have clarified that Rangemaster Boyd was a public safety officer who died as a direct result of an injury sustained in the line of duty. I worked with the Department of Justice to clarify this situation, and get Rangemaster Boyd's widow and family the benefits they deserved. I am pleased that on July 21, 2000 the work of myself, and so many others in the community, paid off when the Department of Justice decided to release the funding to Rangemaster Boyd's family. The benefit package is just a small expense to the Justice Department, only $100,000, but it has been a large relief to the Boyd family. I am glad the Federal Government looked beyond this ``technicality'' and realized what impact these benefits would make. ____________________