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Oakland residents sound off on what they want in a police chief after top cop resigns
Residents and the owner of an Oakland 7-Eleven store repeatedly hit by robbers weigh in on what kind of leader they want for the Oakland Police Department, a day after Chief Floyd Mitchell announced he's quitting.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Now that Oakland's latest police chief has given his two-month notice, what's next for finding the city's next top cop?
National search
Mykah Montgomery, chief of staff for the civilian-led Oakland Police Commission, said that similar to the efforts to hire Floyd Mitchell, who was hired in March 2024 and announced his resignation on Wednesday, the commissioners will conduct a national search.
Then they will interview qualified candidates and, in accordance with the city charter, forward a list of finalists to Mayor Barbara Lee for final consideration.
Montogomery said a timeline for when this will start and how long it will take has not been established.
Last search took more than a year
Finding Mitchell, who came from Lubbock, Texas, to replace his predecessor Leronne Armstrong, who was fired in February 2023 by then-Mayor Sheng Thao, took more than a year.
The process unearthed dysfunction in the police commission in 2023, and the tense relationship between Thao and the commission. Thao rejected the commission's first round of candidates for new chief, which included Armstrong, on the first go around.
Thao ultimately selected Mitchell in March 2024, with the commission's second submission of candidates.
Mitchell did not state a reason for leaving the post he was given 18 months ago.
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Oakland top cop says he's leaving department
Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell, on the job for less than 18 months, says he's quitting effective Dec. 5.
Oakland's bureaucracy
But insiders noted the heavy bureaucracy laden in Oakland's system.
The police chief has to answer to the mayor, the police commission, the city administrator and a federal judge, who has had oversight of the police department for more than 20 years – and still does to this day.
Justin Berton, who used to work for Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and who is now a communications consultant, said the job of Oakland police chief is an "impossible one," with multiple bosses and "any one of them can fire you at any time."
He guessed that since crime is down, Mitchell wanted to get out when the "going is good," and not be fired himself, which can often be a "career killer."
Former Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, who was fired by Schaaf in 2020 and then won a battle to receive $1.5 million after a federal jury ruled she was wrongfully terminated, concurred with Berton's assessment.
"Everybody screams and yells and hollers," Kirkpatrick said from her new home in New Orleans, where she is police superintendent. "It's the most dysfunctional leadership I've ever experienced and yet the department is fabulous and the city is fabulous."
Her advice to a new chief? "Anticipate being fired. Don't go unless you can afford to be fired."
11th chief since 2013
Mitchell was the 11th chief, or interim chief, since 2013. He earned an annual salary of $365,000 and was awarded a three-year contract. As per his contract, he had to give 60 days notice, or pay $800 a day for every day that didn't meet that requirement.
His last day of work will be Dec. 5.
What Oakland residents are saying
Now, many residents and business owners are saying they are paying the price.
"God — at this point, almost anybody who would take it, I mean," said Oakland resident James Shefik.
James Shefik and other Oakland residents share that sentiment after the chief on Wednesday said he’s quitting — the latest in a long line of top cops to take off.
There’s been a common thread in some of those departures: frustration by chiefs that there are too many bosses to report to.
"You gotta be kind of crazy when you have so many people telling you how to run the shop yourself," Shefik said.
Along busy Lakeshore Avenue on Thursday, which has been hard hit by smash-and-grab burglars over the years, there was no shortage of opinions as to what they want in their next chief.
"You can’t have five different bosses. That doesn’t work. You need to have one person you report to," said Oakland resident Linda Rhine.
Rhine says she hopes Mayor Lee will pick the right chief for the job after getting a list of finalists from the police commission.
"Barbara Lee can get trust in the city over time. It’s not gonna happen overnight, and a police chief that reports to the mayor and is responsible to the mayor only, it’s possible it could happen," she said.
The big question — should the next chief be picked from within the ranks or from outside the department?
"So it could be someone from somewhere else, or someone from within, but someone with genuine heart, for humanity, really, I would say, would be the person to be police chief in Oakland," said resident Bakari Pilgrim.
Amardeep Brar owns the 7-Eleven at 5th and International Boulevard in Oakland, which was robbed yet again last month by a group that stole cash registers, cigar wraps, lottery tickets, and cash.
One person has been charged.
"We want somebody with leadership skills and who’s committed to be there for a certain time," Brar said.
The 7-Eleven owner said he was there at Chief Mitchell’s swearing-in last year and at a meeting with the chief, Mayor Lee, and other 7-Eleven owners to talk about their break-ins.
Now, he’s hoping the next chief will be receptive to similar discussions.
"We are shocked to see him leaving because we want some kind of leadership stability in that role," the business owner said.
KTVU's Claudine Wong contributed to this report.