Floyd Mitchell: New Chief, Data-Driven Policing

It's April 24th, from your city to your ears.

This is California News Today, powered by AI.

I'm Cory with the story.

Floyd Mitchell just stepped in as the new police chief for Fremont, California, after heading

up the Oakland Police Department.

He's been on the job for five weeks now, drawn by the city's diversity, stability, and

the department's solid rep, right away he's digging into data to set priorities.

Top of his list is traffic safety, with seven fatalities last year and already five this

year.

He's beefed up the traffic unit, giving patrol officers more power to crack down on

violators and shift the driving culture here.

Fremont's been named the happiest city in the U.S. for seven years straight, with low

crime compared to similar spots.

Still, it deals with violent crimes, high-property theft, and organized retail theft like other

Bay Area cities.

Mitchell's all about following the data to deploy resources where they're needed most.

The city's super diverse, including one of the biggest Afghan communities around, and

as the sanctuary city, Mitchell's committed to protecting all.

Residents.

He called out recent ISIS actions for setting back police community trust by two decades,

saying strong local leadership is key to fixing that.

Next week, Fremont launches a real-time info center, plus new dispatch, and record systems

to boost transparency.

It'll share crime spikes with the public, so folks get why cops are focusing resources

to certain places, keeping things data-driven and open.