Police, community mourn veteran Oakland officer

OAKLAND — Murray Hoyle, a hardworking, highly respected 28-year Oakland police department veteran, died Saturday evening in a rural area of eastern Contra Costa County, authorities said. He was 51.

He fatally shot himself, investigators said. Though they declined to give a reason, they said he may have been having some personal problems. Just before 6 p.m. Saturday, he called 911 dispatchers in Contra Costa County to tell them he would do it and where they could find him.
It was the second time in slightly more than a year that an active-duty Oakland police officer took his own life.

In July 2008, Lt. Derrick Norfleet fatally shot himself at his Vallejo home.
To a department still recovering from the March 21 killings of Sgts. Mark Dunakin, Ervin Romans and Dan Sakai and Officer John Hege, coupled with Norfleet's death, Hoyle's suicide was a shock, especially since no one had seen any signs it would happen, members of the department said.

Officer Jim Gordon one of his closest friends in the department is among the mourners.
"He was the last person you would expect to do this," Gordon said. "He had a gruff exterior, but he was a very warm person. He would give you the shirt off his back. He was a very dedicated police officer who had a warm heart."

A burly 230-pounder who still had visible scars on his arms and leg from a fiery 1989 car wreck that almost killed him, Hoyle was the epitome of an excellent beat cop, according to fellow officers. They say that was especially true of his service in the Montclair district, where he had worked many years until transferring to another beat this year so he could spend more time with his family.

Jim Dexter, a volunteer block captain with the Montclair Safety and Improvement Council, said he met Hoyle seven or eight years ago and worked with him closely, discovering he was the true definition of a public servant.

"Meeting officers for me is a fairly regular occurrence, but meeting officers like Officer Hoyle is very rare," Dexter said. "He was a superior friend to the community. It's a sad loss and a shock, and I say that with all respect to the trials and tribulations all police go through.

"Officer Hoyle, throughout both the darker times and the lighter times, was always a positive and effective communicator from OPD to the community. He just kept on trucking on."
Hoyle was a training officer for rookies. As a one-time motorcycle officer, he was considered an expert in accident investigations and driving-under-the-influence cases, a subject he taught in the police academy.

Hoyle's brush with death — he was trapped in a burning car for more than 10 seconds before escaping — happened in June 1989 at an all-police Demolition Derby in Placerville. He was driving an 1964 Chrysler Imperial he had rebuilt himself.

Several collisions caused a fuel line to sever, spilling fuel inside his car. Another jolt knocked the battery loose, causing it to fall against a piece of metal and creating an arc that lit the spilled fuel.
Hoyle suffered third-degree burns over about a third of his body and went to the UC Davis burn unit in Sacramento, where in the following 22 days he underwent three major skin graft operations. The grafts, rehabilitation therapy and, according to a doctor, his good attitude and motivation allowed him to return to work as a police officer three months later.

Fire played another major part of Hoyle's life. He met his wife, Kim, a former Oakland firefighter, on Oct. 20, 1991, in the Oakland hills during the East Bay firestorm. They were married Aug. 8, 1992, and had three children.

The police union has made counselors available for officers. Family members and police officials were making arrangements for his memorial Monday.

By Sean Maher and Harry Harriss
Oakland Tribune