After Year-Long Search Oakland Names New Chief

Floyd Mitchell, formerly chief of the Lubbock (Texas) Police Department, has been named the next chief of the Oakland (California) Police Department.

The hiring of Chief Mitchell ends a more than year-long search to fill the position. He takes over a department that has been without a permanent leader since Mayor Sheng Thao fired former Chief LeRonne Armstrong in February 2023 .

“I know that he’s a strong leader, and I know that he’s a smart crime fighter who delivers results,” Thao told KQED in an interview on Friday. “His commitment to proven crime-reduction strategies include proactive policing, and the most important part is the strong officer community engagement.”

Mitchell will take over the department between late April and early May, the mayor’s office said.

A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Mitchell began his policing career in Kansas City, Missouri, where he served as an officer for 25 years. He later became police chief of the city of Temple, Texas. In 2019, he took the top post in Lubbock, heading the city’s police department until he resigned in September 2023.

Mitchell joins a department with a strikingly turbulent history that has 12 permanent and interim chiefs since 2005.

The department has been operating under a federal consent decree since 2003.