ASHEVILLE - Police Chief Tammy Hooper will resign, according to a city announcement Wednesday that comes after a tumultuous half year set off by revelations of an officer's beating of a black pedestrian that drew national attention and local outrage.

Her resignation from the Asheville Police Department will be effective Jan. 2. Hooper will pursue consulting opportunities, the announcement from interim City Manager Cathy Ball said.

Hooper was hired in 2015 to oversee a department with a budget that's grown to $29 million with up to 238 sworn officers plus 58 other employees. Police are the city's second biggest expense after water.

Officials: Hooper tried to resign before publication of leaked video

Wednesday's announcement comes after two recent high-profile events, including publication of officer body camera video showing the beating of pedestrian Johnnie Rush by officer Christopher Hickman.

But according to city officials, Hooper's first attempt to resign came before the Feb. 28 Citizen Times publication of Hickman's leaked body cam footage. That disclosure by Ball Wednesday had not previously been made by city officials.

RELATED:10 accomplishments, setbacks in Chief Tammy Hooper's tenure

"Chief Hooper previously gave notice of her resignation to the former city manager in February of 2018 with the intent to transition into consulting at that time," the interim city manager said.

That resignation would not have been effective immediately, but it's not clear on what date Hooper wanted to leave.

The chief did not respond to multiple requests for comment, including a Tuesday phone call prior to the announcement.

The video publication led to a series of events, including the March 20 dismissal of Gary Jackson as city manager.

Ball said with Jackson's firing, "Chief Hooper recognized the need to provide strong leadership to the police department during a critical time. As such, she committed to continue leading the police department until a new city manager was hired. The city is grateful for the contributions Chief Hooper has made to the police department."

Opinions vary on Hooper's record

Residents and City Council members offered different assessments of Hooper's tenure.

She took over a department three years ago burdened by evidence room troubles, with disorganized and missing drugs and guns that compromised investigations, as well as poor morale and high turnover.

Some said she solved long-standing problems. Others said under her public trust was broken.

Councilman Vijay Kapoor, who had countered calls by some for the chief's resignation after the Rush beating, Wednesday said he was saddened to see Hooper leave.

"If it were up to me, I would not have accepted her resignation," Kapoor said. "She took a police department that was in crisis and addressed long-standing issues head-on and with very little internal or external support. She leaves a much stronger and more professional police department as her legacy."

Councilman Keith Young, who had said other terminations should have accompanied the city manager's, said it was time to look forward.

"Hooper was selected prior to my 2015 election," said Young, one of two African-American council members. "My mother used to say everything and everyone has a season. Chief Hooper had hers. She served the city to the best of her abilities, and now a new season is upon us."

Mayor Esther Manheimer did not respond to requests for comment.

Police advocate, former housing administrator

A local police advocate and a longtime public housing administrator said Hooper was one of the city's best chiefs but failed to get support she needed.

Rondell Lance, a veteran of APD and president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, said he liked all the chiefs he worked with as an officer and later as a police advocate.

"But in terms of being efficient and getting stuff done, she made headway way beyond the other chiefs," he said. Lance said she took officer concerns into account when making changes, such as giving more benefits to field training officers. That increased the quality of the program, he said. Hickman was in the program and had a trainee with him the night of the Rush beating.

Lance said Hooper also pushed back against proposed policies she thought made policing harder or put officers in danger. That included her opposition to limiting police search powers as mandated by the council and limiting traffic stops based on regulatory violations.

"She stood strong with things that she thought would be detrimental to law enforcement."

Former public housing administrator Larry Holt said Hooper was "not an extrovert" like some chiefs who were more comfortable in front of cameras, but that she was innovative in dealing with problems she inherited.

"She had some good ideas, with some of them not as well received by certain areas, but I think she did a great job."

Holt pointed to an officer's fatal shooting of Jai "Jerry" Williams, a black man, in July 2016 as one of the difficult turning points when sentiment turned against her among many activists.

Black Lives Matter leader, activist

Others, though, said the chief's missteps broke public trust and that she should have left when called upon to by community members in February.

Michael Carter, who helps low-income residents learn job skills through an Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College and county health program, was among Hooper's critics. He said the chief's decision to delay moving ahead with a criminal investigation after the Rush beating and instead focusing on whether to fire Hickman, was a defining moment.

Carter, a member of the city's new Human Relations Commission, said Wednesday the chief's exit comes too late and that it should not have been her choice.

"It is a 100 percent example of people hearing feedback from the community then saying we're going to do want we want anyway. It is about how we let city officials control the narrative."

Hooper stayed on, he said, to continue making changes to the department but is now leaving in the middle of those initiatives.

"What level of commitment does she have to the community?"

Delores Venable, the Asheville Chapter Black Lives Matter president and vice president of the human relations commission, said Hooper's resignation was positive and noted its timing close to Tuesday's election of Quentin Miller’s as Buncombe County's first black sheriff.

Two local civil rights groups, Black Lives Matter and Showing Up for Racial Justice, were targets of police monitoring following the 2016 shooting of Williams.

Hooper justified the operation, which was revealed through a Citizen Times report and brought criticism from residents and some council members, saying there had been threats against officers.

“If my voice is shaking it’s because when I heard about Chief Hooper it brought tears to my eyes,” Venable said. “That was the icing on the cake that showed that change is coming.”

Venable has long been a vocal critic of Hooper and said the resignation shows the impact of Asheville progressives who rallied for police reform after Williams' shooting and Rush's beating.

Venable said the city should “learn from its mistakes” as it looks for Hooper’s replacement and focus on community input.

“I’m pleased to see that perhaps we can start fresh and new and fix some of the damage that has been done,” she said. “I hope that this is a new chapter for us as a city as whole.”

The transition

To help with the transition, Hooper plans to meet with newly hired city manager Debra Campbell, who will start work Dec. 3, Ball said. Hooper has agreed to provide 75 hours of consulting to the department after her last day of employment.

Deputy Chief Wade Wood will serve as interim chief while a national search begins for a replacement, Ball said.

"The search will include input from the community, employees and the city's leadership team."

Hooper was the third permanent chief to take on the job in an 11-year span. She was the first woman to hold the position and the first openly LGBT chief.

Asheville's chief is hired by and works at the pleasure of the city manager. The city manager is hired and supervised by the council.

Hooper started work in Asheville at a salary of $155,000, plus benefits, according to a copy of her contract. She was given three annual raises that increased her salary to $168,587 annually.

Hooper came to Asheville from a job as deputy chief in Alexandria, Virginia, where she started as a patrol officer.

Her primary law enforcement education also happened in Virginia, where she graduated from George Mason University in Fairfax and earned a graduate certificate in criminal justice from the University of Virginia. She got additional training at the FBI National Academy in Quantico.

Staff writer Sam DeGrave contributed to this report.