New chief takes charge of Oakland Police Department – ​​NBC Bay Area

A new chapter begins for the Oakland Police Department on Saturday as its new police chief, Floyd Mitchell, takes the reins

It’s now been about six weeks since Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao made the announcement, and she said there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes.

“He works closely with interim chief Allison and deputy chief Tony Jones,” Thao said. “We really bring him into the different strategies we work on. The first order of business when he comes in is, of course, to reduce the crime rate.”

The mayor noted that Mitchell is in an improved situation and said Oakland’s overall crime rate is down more than 30% compared to this time last year.

Mitchell takes the OPD position after serving as police chief in Lubbock, Texas.