Davis Police Chief Jim Hyde Resigns

June 14 - KGO (KGO) -- The ABC 7 I-Team has learned that controversial Davis Police Chief Jim Hyde has resigned his position, citing "the destructive and divisive behaviors of the Human Relations Commission and in particular, their chairperson."

Hyde has been under fire by local civil liberties groups, most prominently for the department's handling of a minor fender bender involving a Muslim teenager. As the I-Team first reported in March, Halema Buzayan was arrested in her pajamas late on a school night when she was sixteen-years-old for hit and run, even though her mother said she was driving at the time, even though the mother didn't notice a collision, and even though the family had already paid for repairs to the other car. A judge dismissed the case; then, prosecutors took the highly unusual step of presenting evidence to the local newspaper. The Davis Enterprise posted audio of police interviews on their website, which contained sensitive private information for the family and witnesses in the case, including unlisted phone numbers, home addresses, driver's license numbers and birthdates. As seen in the I-Team blog from Tuesday, Lawyers for the family have filed a claim against the City of Davis, Chief Hyde and the Yolo County District Attorney's Office, a precursor to filing a lawsuit.

Here is the resignation statement from Chief Hyde to the Davis City Council:

"The destructive and divisive behaviors of the Human Relations Commission and in particular, their chairperson, have limited my effectiveness to work with this fine community. Despite the great work of the members of this police department, the HRC has divided the community along race and religious lines to fulfill a self serving political agenda. In my 27 years of government service, 10 years of clinical psychology, and 16 years of working with non-profit organizations, the HRC is the most dysfunctional and incestuous group I have ever witnessed. I hope that City Council will correct this community problem."

And here is the response from Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald, Chairperson of the Human Relations Commission:

"The police chief has resigned and thrown a large amount of blame in the direction of the Human Relations Commission and myself. After many months of hearing from members of the public, last summer we met with the police chief over concerns about the growing number of complaints about police misconduct. These meetings and interactions quickly turned adversarial as the police chief became defensive. Instead of engaging in public dialogue over these very serious issues, Chief Hyde retreated--he cut off communications with the HRC, he pulled his liaisons to the commission, and began a concerted public campaign to discredit the efforts of the HRC to reach common ground on reforms that could be done within the department.

"Sadly this did not have to be the case. But it serves as another reminder that many of the events that the public has witnessed in the last year have been unnecessary. The Buzayan family was more than willing to go through the process of review within the department until it became clear that no satisfactory result could be achieved. Recently, the young African-American students who marched on the Police Station made multiple efforts to meet with Chief Hyde and his staff. Assistant Chief Pearce went as far as to overtly discourage other police departments from participating in Statewide Campus events aimed at achieving dialogue and understanding on police-minority relations. Finally in frustration they marched on the police station, only to have Chief Hyde's staff stand behind protective glass windows, gawking and laughing at the protestors, many of whom had personal accounts of profiling.

"During the past year, the Human Relations Commission, after hearing repeated accounts from credible citizens in our community, recommended the formation of a Citizen's Review Board of the police department. The Police Chief reacted negatively and with attacks upon the HRC as well myself and members of the community for even suggesting such a body. Once again, Chief Hyde reacted defensively and inappropriately instead of working with the community to resolve these problems.

"Chief Hyde's departure does not solve the problems of the Davis Police Department. We need to hire a new chief that can work with community groups like the HRC and others to establish meaningful dialogue that can produce common ground results.

"Unfortunately, Hyde's parting words will serve to further polarize this community and breed contempt rather than understanding. I urge the City Council, no matter what steps they deem necessary, to seek to open a sustained and meaningful dialogue between segments of this community and the police department."

The I-Team has learned Hyde has conditionally accepted a job as police chief in Antioch, and is there today undergoing psychological tests.

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