Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell said he will leave his post in December.
Brontë Wittpenn/S.F. Chronicle
After a year and a half on the job, Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell — the department’s 10th leader in as many years — will resign at the end of the year.
Mitchell’s last day will be Dec. 5, city officials said. It was not clear why he decided to step down, and the chief declined a request for an interview.
“It has been an honor to serve the Oakland community, and I am grateful for the support I’ve received from the residents,” Mitchell said in a statement. He added that he was proud of the members of the department and the “collaborative” relationships forged with residents and business owners.
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Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee thanked the chief for his service and leadership “during a critical time for our city.”
His departure, announced the morning after Lee’s State of the City speech, is expected to bring a period of uncertainty and instability as the department strives to keep crime down amid a shortage of front-line officers and tries to break free from 22 years of federal court oversight. Mitchell’s departure could impact the department’s ability to escape oversight. He is set to resign four days before the department’s next check-in with the judge who will eventually determine when the police department can exit the monitor program.
In a department-wide email reviewed by the Chronicle, Mitchell said “deciding to resign was not an easy decision, nor was it made in haste.” He expressed gratitude for his staff’s “collaborative spirit” and “unwavering dedication” to public safety and public trust.
Mitchell was hired in 2024 by then-Mayor Sheng Thao after a nationwide search. He previously served as the first Black police chief in Lubbock, a mid-sized city in Texas with a population just over 270,000.
He moved to Oakland at a time of heightened concerns about crime, a factor in the recalls of Thao and former Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. There was also controversy over Thao’s firing of former police chief LeRonne Armstrong.
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With Armstrong’s firing, and the retirement of former assistant chief Darren Allison, who served as interim chief after Armstrong’s departure, there was also instability already when Mitchell stepped into the role.
Mitchell said his top priorities were to get the department out from federal oversight and reduce crime. What progress Mitchell made toward tackling those goals is difficult to discern.
According to the latest available data, overall crime is down compared to last year, in line with other major cities across the U.S. But the department remains under federal oversight and also faces a staffing shortage that forces the department to rely on overtime to fill gaps. The latest staffing figures showed about 640 officers in the department, although about 100 of them are on medical or administrative leave. There are also 40 vacancies in the department.
Some insiders said that while they didn’t know why Mitchell decided to resign, they were not surprised by the news. Although officers liked and respected Mitchell, he faced harsh realities at the helm of a short-staffed department under federal oversight.
“Oakland is a tough city for every department. Every single department in the city of Oakland has limited resources. It’s not for the faint of heart,” said Council Member Carroll Fife, who represents downtown, West Oakland, Jack London Square and Adams Point. “It’s unfortunate that we’ve gone through this many chiefs and in a short time, but we got to get to work … to fill the position.”
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Attorney John Burris, who represented plaintiffs in the infamous Riders case that led to the federal oversight, noted that Mitchell lacked the experience of working under federal oversight and alongside other entities, such as the city’s Police Commission. Burris and Jim Chanin, another attorney on the Riders case, said they believe Mitchell found oversight burdensome.
“When you’re with someone who doesn’t want you around. … That’s the feeling I got with him,” Chanin said.
Burris added: “The only issue for me is how long he took. I never thought that he was a good fit for the job.”
Millie Cleveland, chair of the Coalition for Police Accountability, a community group in Oakland, said Mitchell was averse to oversight, a stance that was not compatible with the goal of ending federal oversight, she said.
Police Commission Chair Ricardo Garcia-Acosta shared a different sentiment. He said the chief embraced the Commission’s role as an independent oversight body and collaborated to “strengthen trust and accountability.” He expressed disappointment with the news, adding that significant progress was underway to improve the discipline process and embrace oversight.
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Sgt. Huy Nguyen, president of the Oakland Police Officers Association, said he was troubled by Mitchell’s resignation, which was set to continue “a pattern of instability” at the top of the department.
“This instability will likely make it very difficult to find a new, qualified chief to take Chief Mitchell’s place,” Nguyen said in a statement. “The resignation of yet another Oakland Police Chief is a painful but predictable symptom of deep dysfunction that has plagued the City of Oakland for years.”
Mitchell’s resignation notice follows moves other top brass made earlier this year to part ways with the department. Former Deputy Chief Fred Shavies left for a job as Piedmont’s police chief and Deputy Chief Casey Johnson was a finalist for police chief in Phoenix.
Lee and Mitchell said they would work alongside City Administrator Jestin Johnson to pick an interim police chief. Johnson also thanked Mitchell for his leadership and support for the members of the department. “I am grateful for his leadership and contributions as a member of our executive team,” Johnson said.
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City leaders did not divulge plans to hire a permanent chief. The city’s charter calls for the mayor to select a chief from a list of at least three candidates forwarded to her from the Police Commission. The city in recent years carried out nationwide searches as part of the process.
The announcement about Mitchell’s imminent resignation follows the departure of former San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott, who left in June to lead a new police force within Los Angeles County’s public transit system. Mitchell’s last day will coincide with the hiring of Scott’s replacement, with San Francisco expected to hire a new chief in late November or early December.