Fremont’s new police chief outlines crime plan
- Fremont Police Chief Floyd Mitchell said he is expanding traffic enforcement and using crime data to target property crime, retail theft and reckless driving. - Mitchell told Bay Area television outlets Fremont had seven traffic-related deaths in 2025 and five more fatalities had already been recorded this year. - Fremont opened a Real Time Information Center on April 28, adding analysts and live data tools to support patrols and investigations. (fremont.gov)
Fremont Police Chief Floyd Mitchell says his first public-safety push will focus on reckless driving, property crime and organized retail theft. (abc7news.com) (cbsnews.com) Mitchell told ABC7 that traffic safety "jumps off the page" in Fremont’s data. He said the city had seven traffic-related fatalities in 2025 and had already recorded five deaths by April 24, 2026. (abc7news.com) His answer is more traffic enforcement. Mitchell said he has expanded the traffic unit and is giving patrol officers authority to go after traffic violators to change driving habits in the city. (abc7news.com) On crime, Mitchell said Fremont remains comparatively safe but still deals with violent crime, property crime and organized retail theft. He said officers will follow the data into specific neighborhoods and focus resources where spikes show up. (abc7news.com) Fremont’s own traffic-safety data shows why the chief is zeroing in on crashes now. The city says fatalities generally fell after Vision Zero began in 2015 and 2016, but have risen sharply since 2020 alongside reckless driving and crashes involving unhoused people. (fremont.gov) The department is also adding technology to back that strategy. Fremont opened a dedicated Real Time Information Center on April 28 that uses video feeds, license plate reader data, regional law-enforcement databases and public data sources. (fremont.gov) The city said the center is staffed by two specialized analysts and can help officers develop leads, respond faster and decide when a crash, hazard or minor disturbance needs a police response. City officials said the system already helped in an armed jewelry-store robbery investigation that ended with arrests and recovered property. (fremont.gov) Mitchell is still new to the job. Fremont appointed him on March 3 after a nationwide search, and the city held his public swearing-in on April 16. (patch.com) (fremont.gov) He arrived after an 18-month run as Oakland police chief. Mitchell told KTVU crime in Oakland fell by more than 25% during his tenure, while a California State University, East Bay professor told the station politics in Oakland constrained his leadership. (ktvu.com) In Fremont, the early outline is straightforward: more traffic stops, more targeted patrols and more real-time data behind both. The test will be whether those steps cut collisions and thefts over the rest of 2026. (abc7news.com) (fremont.gov)
