Latest news with #FloydMitchell
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Yahoo
Oakland police chief asks to lift 50 mph pursuit rules
OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland's police chief wants to get rid of the current requirement where officers need to ask supervisors to drive faster than 50 mph during a police chase, but he is not asking to loosen the rules so much as to chase suspects who are accused of non-violent property crimes. Police Chief Floyd Mitchell said he wants to give officers more autonomy and reduce the red tape to allow a pursuit where a suspect starts driving faster than 50 mph. But Mitchell added that he is not trying to lift the rules to allow chases for traffic violations or property crimes – the latter of which many residents have been pushing for. Oakland's policy still limits police chases to violent-crime categories, including murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, robbery and carjacking. Mitchell's formal request to the Oakland Police Commission was documented in a May 19 letter to Police Commissioner Ricardo Garcia-Acosta, and which was discussed at the commission's May 22 meeting. The chief does not need the commission's approval, but he did ask the civilian board to formally weigh in over the next four months. Mitchell's specific request is to allow OPD to "rescind Special Order 9212" put into place in 2022 by then-Police Chief Leronne Armstrong that required the "automatic termination" of all police chases if the speed reached or exceeded 50 mph without a commander's approval. Mitchell said that driving faster than 50 mph can be achieved "within a matter of seconds" and requiring a commander to weigh in to allow the chase to continue has resulted in far fewer pursuits. He illustrated his point by pointing to a chart he created showing that police pursuits dropped from 130 to 68 – or by 47% – from 2022 to 2024. At the same time, Mitchell said that police ended up abandoning pursuits, or not initiating them at all, from 522 to 1,228 – or by 135.5% – in the same two-year period. Overall, on average for the last decade, Mitchell said there are between 77 and 80 police pursuits a year. The Oaklandside noted that there were many residents at last week's meeting who sided with the chief, but thought he wasn't going far enough. City councilman Ken Houston said Mitchell's request wasn't "tough enough" and he wanted "law and order" to be restored in the city. Resident Tuan Ngo echoed Houston's sentiments. But Millie Cleveland, chair of the Coalition for Police Accountability, said she was concerned about giving police officers the sole discretion – without their superiors' input – to drive faster, noting they have abused decisions like this in the past. John Burris and Jim Chanin, two civil rights lawyers who filed the original Riders suit that keeps OPD under federal oversight, wrote in a May 5 letter to the police commission that they disagreed with changing the pursuit rules. They said it would be "very difficult, if not impossible," to discipline an officer for failing to notify a supervisor during a chase. "The officer will say I gave the notice 'as soon as reasonably practical,' and given the stress of engaging in the pursuit, driving in a high-speed situation, and avoiding innocent bystanders and uninvolved vehicles, it will be very hard to second guess the officer no matter how unreasonably he or she may have acted," they wrote. In January, Gov. Gavin Newsom called on the police commission to loosen OPD's restrictions on chases or risk losing support from the CHP. But commissioners were perplexed as to why the governor would call them out specifically for a policy they don't have a formal say over. Their jurisdiction comes into play only with use-of-force issues. However, because the policy does impact compliance with the federal oversight, the police commission may review and propose revisions to the policy. But while Mitchell doesn't need the commission's approval to change OPD pursuit policy, it appears as though he is seeking input from community members and stakeholders. Police commissioners have three choices: Approve Mitchell's recommendations, keep the current policy, or propose their own changes. Commissioners will eventually submit their decision to the Oakland City Council at some point in the future.
CBS News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Oakland police chief calls for more authority to chase violent suspects
Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell is calling for changes to the city's current vehicle pursuit policy, arguing that officers need more authority to chase violent suspects. The proposal, presented to the Oakland Police Commission on Thursday night, has sparked renewed debate over how to balance public safety with community risk. Under existing rules, officers must stop a pursuit if speeds exceed 50 miles per hour unless they receive direct approval from a supervisor. According to Mitchell, this has led to 1,228 so-called "non-response pursuits" in 2024 incidents in which officers were forced to let suspects drive away without attempting to stop them. "It would be a good idea to change the policy to where cops can actually chase them. Otherwise, they'll continue to do the robberies," said Osvaldo Sanchez, general manager of Agave Uptown restaurant. Sanchez said his business has been targeted repeatedly by thieves, recording 22 burglaries and robberies between 2016 and 2024. "Are we willing to stay in the area or should we move to a different area? Are we staying open or close?" he recalled asking himself. Sanchez supported the policy change and believed officers should have more leeway in pursuing suspects. "They should have a little bit more power so that crimes and robberies should stop little by little," he said. In December, California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized Oakland's policy publicly, questioning why officers are barred from pursuing suspects even in dangerous driving situations. "You can be drunk, you can run a red light, you can come close to sideswiping a school bus during the morning hours right in front of a police officer, and the pursuit policy in Oakland says we cannot pursue that suspect," Newsom said during a press conference. East Oakland Councilmember Ken Houston, who stood with Newsom at that event, echoed the sentiment. "We have to bring back law and order, have to bring it back," said Houston of District 7. "We have to bring harsher penalties, and we have to let them know that 'you cannot come to Oakland and do this.'" But critics of the proposal said the risks of high-speed chases are too great. Between 2020 and 2022, four people were killed in crashes linked to police pursuits in the city. Opponents argue that expanding the pursuit authority could endanger innocent drivers and pedestrians. Chief Mitchell acknowledged the potential dangers. The proposed changes, he emphasized, would apply only to violent crimes or suspects armed with guns-not to lower-level offenses like car theft or burglary. "You have to balance it, which one is causing more harm?" said Houston. "Is it the one that's allowing them to get away with those crimes, which emboldens them to higher crimes? You have to draw a line. Nothing is going to be perfect, right?" The Oakland Police Commission is required to act on the proposal within four months. The civilian body has the authority to approve, reject, or amend the policy.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Yahoo
Possible police chase before crash in Oakland
OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) – Oakland police say they are investigating if one of their officers engaged in a pursuit to chase a speeding car that crashed into a pole, sending the driver to the hospital. The police pursuit policy has caused a lot of controversy in Oakland, with many residents and even the governor saying it's time for the city to get more strict. Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell stepped in front of the cameras Tuesday, one day after the chase. Mitchell said recent video evidence shows what happened. Man charged with stealing massive amounts of LEGOs from multiple Bay Area Targets 'It depicts our officer making a u-turn at the intersection of International. The officer activates their emergency lights and then observes the speeding vehicle collide with the fixed traffic pole,' he said. Those moments between when the Oakland Police Department officer turned their lights on and when the speeding car crashed will be key to determining if an officer did in fact pursue the car. 'That will be fully flushed out during the investigative process,' Mitchell said. The police pursuit policy in Oakland is complicated. It states that officers can only pursue a suspect if they have reason to believe the suspect has a gun or is committing a violent crime. Neighbors have rallied this year demanding a change, and small business owners say police could have stopped burglars from ransacking her store but didn't. Even Gov. Gavin Newsom has called on Oakland police to change its pursuit policy if it wants to keep seeing mutual aid from California Highway Patrol. 'Here in Oakland, in order to consider extending this state subsidized partnership, we specifically are going to need to see changes in the pursuit policy,' he said. KRON4 asked chief Mitchell about this specific case from Monday, if his officer is found to have initiated a pursuit. 'If a pursuit did occur they would check if it fell in or out of policy,' he said. He also wouldn't commit to a timeline of when their investigation could finish. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
