{"id":392124,"date":"2026-07-09T15:39:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/392124\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T15:39:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:39:10","slug":"oakland-mayor-barbara-lee-selects-james-beere-as-permanent-police-chief-to-lead-opd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/392124\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee selects James Beere as Permanent Police Chief to lead OPD"},"content":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — Oakland Interim police chief James Beere, who took over from Floyd Mitchell in early December, has now been officially appointed by Mayor Barbara Lee to lead the department permanently.<\/p>\n

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee selected Beere to serve as the city’s permanent police chief following a months-long recruitment process led by the Oakland Police Commission and retired Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn.<\/p>\n

Lee announced the decision Wednesday, saying the appointment will bring stability to Oakland’s police department after years of leadership turnover.<\/p>\n

“Public safety and justice are strongest when they advance together,” Lee said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“Oakland deserves stability. James Beere embraces meaningful civilian oversight and constitutional policing, values collaboration with our neighborhoods, businesses and faith leaders, and is fully prepared to lead on day one.”<\/p>\n

Lee also thanked the Police Commission, city staff, community stakeholders and residents who participated in the selection process, as well as the other candidates who applied for the position.<\/p>\n

Beere is a veteran of the Oakland Police Department, where he has served since 1997.<\/p>\n

His nearly three decades with the department include roles as interim police chief, assistant chief, deputy chief of the Bureau of Field Operations and commander of the Criminal Investigations Division.<\/p>\n

A Marine Corps combat veteran, Beere has received several departmental honors, including the Blue Star Medal, Medal of Merit and the Chief’s Excellence in Leadership Award. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Golden Gate University and graduated from the FBI National Academy.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Beere said he plans to continue efforts aimed at reducing crime, rebuilding staffing levels and strengthening relationships with the community.<\/p>\n

“As your Chief of Police, I look forward to serving Oakland’s residents and businesses,” Beere said. “Together, we will continue to implement 21st-century policing strategies, leverage modern technology, and bring long-term stability and safety to our city.”<\/p>\n

In a sit-down interview with ABC7 Eyewitness News in March, Beere previously addressed everything from staffing shortages to public trust and how both affect daily life in Oakland.<\/p>\n

RELATED: One-on-one interview with interim Oakland police chief as he vies to become permanent head<\/a><\/p>\n

In his previous interview with ABC7, he says in addition to taking steps to reestablish trust with the community, he’s also continuing to try and stop crime.<\/p>\n

A goal, he says, will be achieved by also acknowledging mistakes OPD has made in the past.<\/p>\n

The nationwide search process included community engagement efforts focused on priorities such as constitutional policing, civilian oversight, officer recruitment and retention, community trust, reducing violent crime and improving response times.<\/p>\n

Beere’s appointment is expected to go before the Oakland City Council on July 17. A swearing-in ceremony will follow if the appointment is approved.<\/p>\n

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Copyright \u00a9 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — Oakland Interim police chief James Beere, who took over from Floyd Mitchell in early…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[157774,143,145,144],"class_list":["post-392124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-157774","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}