Gilroy Mourns Passing of First Police Chief

In front of the massive and modern police headquarters named in his honor, mourners gathered Monday morning to pay their respects after the passing of the Gilroy Police Department’s first chief,

“He was known as C.J. in business, Jim to some, and dad to a lucky few,” said his son, Chuck Laizure, to the assembled crowd. 

Laizure, who served as Gilroy’s police chief from 1960-80, died on the Fourth of July at age 81. Speakers credited him with modernizing the department and sharing his well-crafted and often humorous wisdom with others. 

“I think it’s very appropriate for the patriot that the man was that God chose to take him on the Fourth of July,” said John Sheedy, retired sergeant with the police department.

At a time when the Gilroy Police Department had 13 officers, Laizure held badge No. 1, said current police Chief Denise Turner.

“Fifty-one years later, we have recently issued badge No. 194, so you can see that we’ve grown quite a bit over the years,” said Chief Turner.

In his eulogy, Chuck Laizure described his father as a constant garage tinkerer who entered law enforcement when he had trouble finding a job as a welder. Laizure spent four years as a U.S. Air Force sergeant before seven years in the Merced Police Department and his transition to Gilroy’s chief of police.

“He told us that if we ever got in trouble with the police, they were under strict instruction to be twice as hard on us as anyone else,” said Chuck, who has three siblings.

As chief, Laizure personally created and typed the department’s first procedure manual on a typewriter. He established a 911 system in Gilroy—the fourth in California—and assisted in the creation of several training programs, including the Gavilan Police Academy and the cadet program that allowed for 24-hour phone coverage.

He was also a doting husband, caring tenderly for his wife, Betty, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the 1960s. She lost her life to the disease in 2007.

More than 30 years after leaving the police department, Laizure’s impact lived on, speakers said.

“I believe that the spirit of Jim Laizure has been seen and passed down from one chief to the next, and from one officer to the next,” said Malcolm MacPhail, a chaplain for city’s police and fire departments.

Laizure opened a welding shop after retirement but remained close with police, speakers said. He was humble but deeply honored to learn that the new station would bear his name.

Police Capt. Scot Smithee, who gave the former chief tours of the station’s construction site, said he made sure to put on his uniform before rushing to be at the ailing man’s side.

“Chief,” Smithee recalled saying at Laizure’s bedside, “not only am I with you, but we’re all with you.”

The captain was the first of an endless stream of officers who kept watch over the former chief, some going without sleep after working through the night.

“Police work is sort of like a family—it’s like another brotherhood,” he said.

“I’m going to miss him,” said friend, Frank Biafore. “We all will.”