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OAKLAND (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP / BCN) ― Embattled Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker, facing criticism over chronic violent crime and turmoil in the department, resigned Tuesday as city leaders prepared to call for a vote of no-confidence against him.
 
However, the chief denied being forced out and had some stinging words for the Oakland City Council — saying he had "lost faith" in their ability to fully fund his department and implement reforms.

"I have not been fired. I have not been asked to resign. I make this in the best interest for this city," said Tucker, who plans to retire on Feb. 28.

Joined by Mayor Ron Dellums at a hastily arranged news conference at City Hall, Tucker accused council members of failing to provide enough funding to help fight crime for the 803 officers in the force.

Tucker, 65, said of the council, "I'm in conflict with them on many aspects and I doubt their sincerity about supporting reforms."

"I feel they have given lip service to their commitment to public safety in this city... all you have to do is look at the budget cuts that the city has undergone," he added.

The result, Tucker said, is that the Oakland Police Department doesn't have enough investigators to solve crimes and has to rely on getting confessions from suspects in order to get crimes charged.

Council President Jane Brunner disputed Tucker's charge that the council did not provide enough funding for the department. She maintained council had given Tucker all the funding he had requested and that the police budget constituted 43 percent of the city's general fund.

"He didn't ask for more" money, Brunner said.

She believes that Tucker lacked a clear vision for solving crime in Oakland. A number of bigger cities have lower crime rates than Oakland, she said.

"We need a chief who comes out of urban policing. We need a chief who is bringing in the best practices from around the country," Brunner said. "We need more of a hands-on chief who has been trained in urban policing and has been successful doing it."

Brunner said Tucker "is a very lovely gentleman" but she thinks he focused too much on internal affairs matters and didn't develop a strategic crime-fighting plan.

Reported crimes in Oakland dropped about 4 percent last year, but violent crimes, such as aggravated assault, attempted robbery and attempted rape, increased, according to police data. The number of homicides went from 127 in 2007 to 125 last year.

Several council members had prepared to call for a vote of no confidence in Tucker, saying that spiraling violent crime, a below-average rate of crimes solved by the police and the department's negative publicity underscored the need for new leadership.

Brunner noted that before Tucker became police chief in Oakland, he worked for nearly 40 years for the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, an agency whose jurisdiction consists of unincorporated, less populated areas.

Tucker retired as assistant sheriff in 2005. He was appointed interim police chief by former Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown in February 2005 and was sworn in as the permanent chief six months later.

Dellums, the current mayor,  said it was "with regret" that he accepted Tucker's resignation, calling the chief an agent of change and someone who "has served the Oakland Police Department and the city of Oakland with honor."

During his second State of the City address on Monday night, Dellums vowed to reduce crime by 10 percent this year. No successor to the chief has been named.

Dom Arotzarena, president of Oakland Police Officers Association, said that while the union did not always agree with Tucker on issues, their relationship had improved recently.

"The city will bring somebody in who will basically pick up the morale of our beaten down police officers and they also will need to address the crime issues," Arontzarena said. "The rank-and-file need to know they can do their job without someone breathing down their necks." 

Tucker's resignation comes amid not only unsettling violence in the city, but also wide-ranging criticism of the department.

Earlier this month, the city said it planned to fire 11 officers for allegedly lying to obtain search warrants in drug cases.

In November, Dellums asked Brown, now the state's Attorney General, to conduct an independent probe into the police investigation of slain Oakland newspaper editor Chauncey Bailey. Published reports alleged the lead detective working on the case ignored important evidence.

"We made mistakes on that case and we continue to make mistakes on many of the investigations we do," Tucker said without singling out the officer. "That is going to continue until we are able to have some rational funding stream, or a rational look at how investigations are going to be done in the city of Oakland."

The FBI is also currently looking into "specific allegations" involving the department, agency spokesman Joe Schadler said Tuesday, declining to elaborate. Oakland police said in a statement that a commander is on paid leave in connection with the FBI's investigation into an incident in 2000.

That commander has been identified as Capt. Ed Poulson, the head of the department's internal affairs division. He was accused of beating up 38-year-old drug suspect Jerry Andrew Amaro III, who later died, and then allegedly ordered subordinate officers to lie about it.

Tucker said Tuesday that he didn't previously know about the allegations against Poulson because by law he only had access to the last five years of Poulson's record before he promoted him to the internal affairs post.

Tucker said Poulson is "a very skillful and competent police officer" and described him as the most qualified of all the captains that interviewed for the IA job.

Tucker said if the allegations against Poulson are true and he had been chief at the time of the incident "it would have ended his (Poulson's) career." 

Meantime, attorneys James Chanin and John Burris, who won a $10.5 million settlement against the OPD in 2003 for alleged misconduct, said Tuesday that they feared Tucker's resignation could actually slow reforms that are mandated by the settlement.

Speaking at an afternoon news conference at Burris's office, the two lawyers urged Dellums to conduct a nationwide search for a new chief and said he shouldn't appoint anyone on the current command staff.

"There's a real question if the Oakland Police Department is capable of governing itself" and Channin said it needs a fresh look that can only be accomplished by an experienced administrator from the outside.

"It's critical to have a strong chief because a strong chief makes a difference" in making sure that reforms are implemented, he added.

The so-called "Riders" civil settlement provided funds to more than 120 plaintiffs who said they were beaten and had illegal narcotics planted on them by Oakland police officers.

But three officers who were prosecuted in a separate but related criminal case weren't convicted of any crimes during two lengthy and highly publicized trials and charges against them were dismissed in 2005.

The settlement initially required that a series of reforms aimed at ensuring better police practices be implemented by 2008. But on March 19, 2007, U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson, who is overseeing the case, extended it another two years, until Jan. 21, 2010.

Burris and Chanin said the department, under former Police Chief Richard Word, made no meaningful attempt to comply with the settlement agreement but did a better job after Tucker became chief.

"We thought Tucker made a lot of improvements and was working aggressively with his command staff to comply and made a good-faith effort but was not entirely successful," Burris said.

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