Officer Matthew Hooten

San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department
Stockton, CA

Date of Death: August 8, 2006

Age: 23
Years of Service: 2
Duty Status: Active
Veteran: No

On August 8, 2008, Officer Matthew Hooten died by suicide after two years of service.

Matthew graduated from Hanford High School, attended Delta College where he worked for their security force and later graduated from the Police Academy in Yuba City. He was with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department at the time of his death where he had received a letter of commendation for saving a life.

According to his mother, Diane, “Matt was such a smart young man. He was so young when he died, he wasn’t able to achieve many goals except becoming a law enforcement officer. Even as a small child he drew uniforms and police equipment on the characters in his books. In high school, Matt was the editor of the school paper, on the debate team and part of the cadet program. Matt loved history and politics. He was always kind to everyone and loved to share his music and funny video finds with me. I wish he had realized how much he was loved by so many people.”

After Matt died, Diane went back to school and got her MS in Counseling, became part of the Tulare/ Kings Suicide Task Force, an ASIST trainer and part of the LOSS team. Matt’s mother was able to use her experience to passionately save lives and train others.