Mayor Libby Schaaf is expected Wednesday to announce a new top cop for Oakland, the department’s first-ever female chief.
The mayor has named Anne Kirkpatrick, a former police chief of Spokane, Washington, as the chief for Oakland, according to sources.
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Kirkpatrick is expected to attend a news conference with Schaaf and other officials Wednesday. Hiring Kirkpatrick would be historic. The Oakland Police Department, which has had approximately 38 permanent chiefs since its inception in the mid-1800s, has never had a woman at the helm.
Kirkpatrick has most recently worked for the Chicago Police Department, hired in June to oversee reforms resulting from the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald. Previously, she was among the finalists for police chief of Chicago.