Fremont Police Chief's Crime Plan

Fremont Police Chief Floyd Mitchell says his first public-safety priorities are cutting property crime and reducing deadly traffic crashes. (abc7news.com) (cbsnews.com) Mitchell told ABC7 he is using department data to decide where officers go, and said “traffic safety” was the issue that jumped out first after about five weeks on the job. (abc7news.com) He said Fremont had seven traffic-related fatalities in 2025 and had already recorded five deaths by April 24, 2026. He said he expanded the traffic unit and is giving patrol officers more authority to pursue traffic violators. (abc7news.com) City traffic data shows enforcement had already risen sharply last year: Fremont police traffic stops and citations increased 134% in 2025 compared with 2024, while traffic fatalities fell 42%, from 12 to seven. (fremont.gov) Fremont says that longer trend changed after 2020, when fatal crashes increased alongside reckless driving and crashes involving unhoused people. The city’s traffic-safety program still operates under its Vision Zero policy adopted in 2015 and action plan adopted in 2016. (fremont.gov 1) (fremont.gov 2) Mitchell is also framing crime in Fremont as more than a city-by-city problem. In local TV interviews, he pointed to organized retail theft, property crime and homelessness as issues that require regional coordination across Bay Area agencies. (abc7news.com) (ktvu.com) The city opened a dedicated Real Time Information Center on April 28, 2026, one day before this explainer, adding another piece to that strategy. Fremont said the facility is staffed by two analysts and combines camera feeds, license plate reader data, regional law-enforcement databases and public data sources. (fremont.gov) Fremont said the center has already helped in an armed jewelry-store robbery investigation, leading officers to suspects and recovered stolen property, and can also screen some crashes or hazards to determine whether officers need to respond. (fremont.gov) The Real Time Information Center was funded by a $2,453,958 Organized Retail Theft Prevention grant from the California Board of State and Community Corrections. Fremont had previously said the same funding would support deterrence, detection and response to organized retail theft. (fremont.gov 1) (fremont.gov 2) Mitchell took over in March after City Manager Karena Shackelford appointed him following a nationwide search. The city’s January 2026 priorities report said Fremont hired 35 police officers in 2025 and cut sworn vacancies by about 60.9%, giving the new chief a fuller department to deploy. (patch.com) (city.fremont.gov) His pitch is straightforward: put officers where the data shows crime and crashes are clustering, and use new technology to explain those deployments to the public in real time. (abc7news.com) (fremont.gov)