Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao announced the long-awaited appointment of a new police chief on March 22, filling a position that had been vacant for over a year since the dismissal of the previous chief.
“Floyd Mitchell is a strong leader and smart crime fighter who delivers results. His commitment to proven crime reduction strategies including proactive policing and strong officer-community engagement vaulted him to the top of the list,” Ms. Thao said in a video announcement.
Mr. Mitchell, a U.S. Air Force veteran with 25 years of law enforcement experience, resigned from his chief position in Lubbock Police Department last September after heightened concerns over the department’s unanswered 911 calls, according to media reports. Before this role, he was police chief in Temple, a small city in central Texas.
“As Oakland’s police chief I look forward to working together with our residents, businesses owners, city leadership, and members of the police commission to build a stronger and safer Oakland,” the incoming chief said in a statement. “Our duty is to promote safety, prevent crime, and pursue justice for all we serve by collaborating and communicating with our community.”
The Oakland Police Department has been under federal oversight for two decades due to an officer brutality scandal, making it the police department with the longest federal oversight in the country.
One of Mr. Mitchell’s top priorities is to transition the department out of federal court oversight, which mandates improved tracking and disciplining of officers, he said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.
The appointment followed the mayor’s decision to dismiss the city’s last police chief, LeRonne Armstrong, over the alleged cover-up of an officer’s misconduct in February 2023, just a month after she assumed office. Mr. Armstrong, a 20-year veteran of the Oakland Police Department and the city’s chief since 2021, was the 12th police chief to serve the city over two decades.
The department has since been led by Interim Police Chief Darren Allison.
While the department grapples with reform mandated by federal court, Oakland has also seen a significant uptick in crime in recent years.
According to the police department, violent crime increased by 21 percent in 2023 from the previous year, with robberies up by 40 percent and residential robberies up by 71 percent.
The year also saw a rise in car thefts, with nearly 15,000 vehicles stolen—a 45 percent increase from 2022 and a 229 percent surge from 2019. Additionally, about 14,000 vehicles were reported broken into during the same period.
The rise in crime also leads to many businesses taking extra safety precautions.
Clorox, headquartered in Oakland since 1913, told The Epoch Times last month that the company has hired more security guards to escort employees to various local destinations.
Kaiser Permanente, a health care company, advised its Oakland headquarters employees in a memo to remain indoors for lunch because of potential criminal activity on the streets.
Some businesses went a step further, choosing to leave the city altogether.
Last fall, Target closed its downtown Oakland store as a result of more than 100 smash-and-grab thefts in 2023. In-N-Out Burger’s sole location in the city also closed in January—the first closure in the company’s history—citing rampant burglaries and armed robberies. Additionally, a Denny’s location in Oakland shut down recently as a result of crime.
Mr. Mitchell told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was looking forward to leading the department through the challenges the city is currently facing.
“I love the idea of being challenged and being able to help an organization transform how it is viewed by its community in regards to public safety, and how it is viewed across the nation,” he said.
The mayor also backed her decision saying that Mr. Mitchell had a proven record of crime reduction in both Temple and Lubbock, the newspaper reported.
Annual police reports indicated that property crimes in Lubbock decreased by approximately 9 percent in both 2020 and 2021, during Mr. Mitchell’s first two years as chief. However, data shows an uptick in 2022, with property crimes increasing by over 10 percent.
In Temple, crime across the board decreased in each of the four years he served as chief, according to Temple Police Department.
Additionally, under Mr. Mitchell’s leadership, police response times to 911 calls have also improved in both cities, according to the police department reports.
“As our city’s top police officer, Chief Mitchell will join the talented public safety leadership team we have assembled and lead the law enforcement elements of Oakland’s comprehensive public safety strategy,” the mayor said in a March 22 statement.
