SOMERVILLE POLICE CHIEF RETIRING; THREE OFFICERS, ONE RESERVE RESIGN
Somerville Police Chief Craig Wise has announced his retirement.
On July 17th, Wise gave a letter to City Administrator Danny Segundo announcing his retirement effective Friday, July 31st. Wise’s retirement comes after several weeks of controversy which included calls for his resignation by Mayor Michael Bradford and members of the public.
According to Segundo, three police officers have also resigned, with their last day coming on Friday. One reserve officer resigned earlier this month, effective July 18th. This leaves the city with two police officers.
Wise, according to Segundo, had served as police chief since November of 2018, after retiring as a sergeant from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
Update @ 3:15 p.m.: In Wise’s letter to Segundo, he said after “careful thought and long discussions” with his wife, he decided he wanted to leave the “stress and worry” of law enforcement.
Calls for Wise’s resignation began in early June, after the city rejected the rehiring of former Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Chauna Sheffield. Sheffield, formerly known as Chauna Thompson, was indicted on a murder charge in the death of John Hernandez at a Houston-area Denny’s restaurant in 2017. Off-duty at the time, she was seen on video helping restrain Hernandez while her husband at the time, Terry Thompson, put him into a choke-hold. Hernandez died after the incident, and Sheffield was fired from her job, but the charges against her were later dropped.
Calls for action intensified after members of the public condemned the police department’s handling of a police brutality protest on June 13th, in which several armed men arrived. Protestors from the event claim that police did not intervene or check on them when the armed group walked directly through them.
The city has already begun its search for a new police chief, with Segundo saying the Burleson County Sheriff’s Office will be asked to help with law enforcement until the police department hires more officers. On Monday, Burleson County Commissioners approved having the Sheriff’s Office fill Somerville ISD’s School Resource Officer position.