Oakland deputy chief named new Alameda police chief
Joshi says he is ‘confident’ he can get department on track
The city of Alameda’s next top cop — taking over a department facing heavy scrutiny for the in-custody death of a man last month — will be Oakland Police Department Deputy Chief Nishant Joshi, who is well regarded both within the department and the community, the city announced Monday.
“I am excited to announce the hiring of Nishant Joshi as the next police chief of Alameda,” City Manager Eric Levitt said. “Nishant Joshi has a deep understanding of the issues we are committed to addressing and is the right person to work with our community and lead the department forward.”
Alameda has searched for a permanent chief since last fall, when Chief Paul Rolleri retired and the city brought in Interim Chief Randy Fenn from Fairfield. In Alameda, the city manager has control over hiring the chief; the decision does not require City Council approval.
“I am confident I can lead the Alameda Police Department to be a premier agency engaged in 21st century policing that prioritizes community expectations while honoring all residents and their life experiences,” Joshi, who will begin work June 8, said in a statement. “Serving Alameda as the Chief of Police will be a privilege and an honor.”
Joshi is crossing the Estuary after two decades on
the Oakland police force. He joined the department in 2000, after serving two years as an Oakland park ranger officer. Joshi worked the streets as a narcotics officer, and by the late 2000s led OPD’s Gangs/Guns Investigations Task Force. In 2017, he rose to the rank of captain and oversaw an area of East Oakland.
Oakland Chief LeRonne Armstrong promoted him to the rank of deputy chief in February. Joshi and his wife, a former Oakland police sergeant, live in Alameda and are the parents of three children.
He worked as an area captain in Oakland City Councilman Noel Gallo’s district, and Gallo said he demonstrated a commitment to not only listening to residents but getting to know them.
“I extremely appreciated not only his professional experience but his reaching out to the neighborhood,” Gallo said. “He was able to develop a good deal of trust in the community and had the respect from his fellow officers that he supervised.”
Oakland’s “loss is their gain. I hope he can clean that place up,” said civil rights attorney Jim Chanin, who represented the family of Shelby Gattenby, who was killed by Alameda police officers in 2018.
Joshi comes to Alameda at a time when the death of 26-year-old Oakland resident Mario Gonzalez, who died after police pinned him down on April 19, has sparked outrage and protests from residents, and is under investigation by multiple outside agencies.
Gonzalez’s death has drawn comparisons to the death of George Floyd, both in coming after an extended period of having an officer hold him down, and for the lack of information put out by police. Alameda police initially said Gonzalez died of medical issues during a scuffle with officers. The Alameda sheriff and District Attorney investigations of the three officers’ actions are not completed, nor is the autopsy which will show cause of death.
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office conducting the autopsy is bringing in pathologists to peer review the findings, and will convene a cause and manner of death committee, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
The island is also grappling with staffing issues, and a reputation for being heavy-handed after police last year stopped a Black resident, threw to the ground and arrested after he tried to walk away from officers. The man said he was dancing and exercising in the street and prosecutors declined to charge him for resisting arrest, saying the officers had no probable cause to stop him.
The Alameda City Council on May 8 in a 3-2 vote approved sweeping reforms to how police respond to 911 calls, including bringing in trained mental health officers for certain calls. Council members also asked the city to review its use-offorce and body camera policies.