Overview:
Bisa French was the first woman to head the Richmond Police Department, presiding during a time marked by low homicide rates.
Richmond Police Department Chief Bisa French, the first woman to lead the agency, announced Thursday that she will retire on Jan. 16 after a more than 27-year law enforcement career in the city.
According to a press release issued by the city, French, who became chief in 2020, led the department during a period in which the city had its lowest homicide rates on record while “implementing programs focused on transparency, training and community engagement.”
“Serving the City of Richmond has been the honor of my life,” French said in a statement. “Leading this department and working alongside the men and women of RPD has been the highlight of my career.”
Her announcement may not be a complete surprise. Sources close to the city told Richmondside that French has been taking care of her husband, who had an accident recently.
The city said in its statement that having advance notice of her departure will allow for “a thoughtful and smooth transition.”
The city said it will begin the selection process for the position in the coming months, in hopes of hiring someone before Bisa leaves.
The police department thanked French for her service and wished her well in retirement.
“Since joining RPD in 1998, Chief French served in nearly every rank of the department — officer, sergeant, lieutenant, captain and assistant chief — before being named chief,” the press release states. “Over the course of her career, she has been recognized for strengthening community partnerships, advancing transparency and modernizing the department’s approach to public safety.”
In the past year, Bisa has publicly expressed frustration to the city about chronic understaffing, saying officers are getting burned out from working overtime.
Bisa to leave a department that’s been said to be understaffed
Contra Costa County’s Civil Grand Jury released a report in April finding that the Richmond Police Department has been understaffed since the city in 2021 reallocated $3 million from the department to fund policing alternatives.
While the press release about Bisa touted the city’s low number of murders (just one so far in 2025, for example) the report, which was released April 26, stated that violent crime in Richmond has increased 22.6% since 2021, which is when the Richmond City Council, in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder by former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin, established the 21-member Reimagining Public Safety Task force.
French told a city council member in December that despite hiring 42 officers in the past two years, the department can’t reach full staffing levels because it can’t keep pace with the high number of burned-out officers leaving. She criticized the 2021 “defunding” and proposed that the city adopt an officer recruitment incentive program, but the council postponed discussing it and it hasn’t since been revisited.
French’s tenure was not without controversy. She was placed on administrative leave for nine months from October of 2021 to July of 2022 following allegations from her adult daughter, who accused French and her husband of physical restraint and making threats.
An independent investigation found French committed misconduct by making “a threat of harm” and taking her daughter’s cell phone, though several other allegations were not sustained. Both Solano and Contra Costa county district attorneys, however, declined to file criminal charges, and French was reinstated with an undisclosed disciplinary action.
According to a San Jose Mercury News report, French and her husband maintained they were trying to protect their daughter from what they believed was a sex trafficking situation.
Next chief to inherit aftermath of two officer-involved shooting deaths
Bisa’s successor will be arriving in the aftermath of state and county investigations of two officer-involved shootings that occurred just six months apart.
In February police shot and killed 51-year-old Jose De Jesus Mendez, thinking he was holding a knife. (The object turned out to be a knife sheaf.) And in August 27-year-old Angela Montano was shot and killed when he refused officers’ orders to stop coming toward them. He was holding a knife in each hand.
The department may also feel additional pressure from its citizens police review commission in coming months as it recently successfully persuaded the city council to enact a number of policy changes designed to give the volunteer board more oversight. Those changes need to be negotiated with the police union before they take effect.
This is a developing story and will be updated as further details become available.
