New Fremont Police Chief Outlines Plan
- Fremont Police Chief Floyd Mitchell, sworn in on April 17 after leaving Oakland, said this week he is shifting officers toward traffic enforcement, property crime and organized retail theft as he starts the job. - Mitchell said Fremont had seven traffic deaths in 2025 and five more so far in 2026, prompting him to expand the traffic unit and give patrol officers more authority to stop violators. - Fremont’s own traffic data shows fatalities have climbed since 2020 despite its Vision Zero program, giving Mitchell an early test in a city that markets itself as unusually safe. (fremont.gov)
Fremont’s new police chief, Floyd Mitchell, says his first targets are traffic deaths, property crime and organized retail theft. (abc7news.com) Mitchell was sworn in on April 17, 2026, after City Manager Karena Shackelford appointed him in March to replace retired chief Sean Washington. (nbcbayarea.com) (content.govdelivery.com) In an interview aired April 24, Mitchell said he had been on the job for five weeks and that traffic safety was the issue that “jumps off the page” when he studies Fremont’s data. (abc7news.com) He said Fremont recorded seven traffic-related fatalities in 2025 and five deaths so far in 2026. He said he has expanded the traffic unit and is working with patrol officers to “go after traffic violators.” (abc7news.com) City traffic records show why that is his opening move. Fremont says traffic deaths fell after it adopted Vision Zero in 2015, but fatalities have risen again since 2020, with 87 fatal crash incidents and 88 deaths recorded from 2014 through 2025. (fremont.gov) Mitchell is also putting weight on property crime and organized retail theft, saying Fremont still struggles with both even though its overall crime rates remain low compared with similarly sized cities. (abc7news.com) The department already has a state organized retail theft grant worth $2,453,958. Fremont says the money supports deterrence, detection and response, including a Real Time Information Center that feeds analysts and first responders live information. (fremont.gov) (fremontpolice.gov) Mitchell said he wants deployment driven by data, not habit. “If the data takes you into a certain neighborhood or directs you toward a specific subject, you put your resources toward that,” he said. (abc7news.com) He is also tying the job to trust. In the same interview, Mitchell said Fremont is a sanctuary city and said local leaders will need “strong leadership” to repair damage to community confidence after federal immigration enforcement actions. (abc7news.com) Fremont hired Mitchell after a national search and pointed to his record in Oakland, where the city said homicides fell 31% and property crime dropped by more than 10% during his tenure there. (content.govdelivery.com) His first test in Fremont is narrower and immediate: show that more traffic enforcement and targeted policing can cut deaths and theft in a city that already sells itself as one of the Bay Area’s safest. (abc7news.com) (fremont.gov)
