Oakland crime continues to drop, chief finishes training

OAKLAND, Calif. - New numbers from the Oakland Police Department show the city is on track to end the year with a drop in crime compared to last year.

From January to mid-November of last year, there were 105 homicides in Oakland, more than 3,300 reports of robberies, more than 13,000 car break-ins, 13,000 cars stolen and nearly 1,700 commercial break-ins. 

Compare that to the same time period this year, and all of those crimes are down. 

So far, there have been 70 homicides, 2,500 robberies, fewer than 5,000 reports of cars being broken into, nearly 9,900 stolen cars and about 1,000 commercial break-ins.

This drop in crime comes during the first year of Oakland's new police chief.

Floyd Mitchell took over the department in May. 

Recently, he finished his state-mandated Peace Officer Standards and Training course, which is required for any law enforcement officer transferring from out of state.

He was previously the police chief in Lubbock, Texas. 

The police department says Mitchell completed the course and returned to work in November, adding that the chief remained engaged with city leadership and daily operations the entire time.