Oakland has had 11 different police chiefs in 15 years as Chief Floyd Mitchell steps down

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell’s resignation announcement is just the latest departure from a department that’s seen a lot of turnover in the last 15 years.

Including Mitchell, the city has seen 11 different police chiefs in that time period, leading to about a decade of turbulent leadership of the department.

RELATED: Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell announces he’s stepping down

Leronne Armstrong was the police chief prior to Mitchell. He had the job for two years from 2021 to February of 2023. That’s when then-Mayor Sheng Thao fired him, citing an investigation that found he’d mishandled two misconduct cases. An independent arbitrator cleared him of those accusations.

Armstrong replaced interim Chief Susan Manheimer, who replaced Anne Kirkpatrick, Oakland’s first female police chief in 2017.

She was on the job for three years and was fired in 2020 for reporting alleged misconduct. Kirkpatrick filed a lawsuit disputing her termination and won.

Prior Chief Sean Whent resigned in 2016 after members of the department admitted to having sex with an underage prostitute. Following his resignation, Oakland went through three chiefs in nine days.

Here is a total timeline of chiefs since 2009. Note that Darren Allison was interim chief twice.

• 2009-2011: Anthony Batts – Resigned




• 2011-2013: Howard Jordan – Resigned due to health reasons




• 2013-2013: Anthony Torbio *Interim Chief – Resigned after 2 days




• 2013-2016: Sean Whent – Forced to resign amid department sex scandal




• 2016: Ben Fairow *Interim Chief – Resigned after 6 days




• 2016: Paul Figueroa *Interim Chief – Resigned after 2 days




• 2017-2020: Anne Kirkpatrick – Fired




• 2020-2020: Darren Allison *Interim Chief




• 2020-2021: Susan Manheimer *Interim Chief




• 2021-2023: LeRonne Armstrong – Fired




• 2023- 2024: Darren Allison *Interim Chief




• 2024-2025: Floyd Mitchell – Resigned