About Chief Pittman
Yogananda Pittman is the Chief of Police for the UC Police Department and officially began serving the UC Berkeley campus on February 1, 2023 following an extensive nationwide Search. She previously served as the assistant chief of the United States Capitol Police (USCP), where she had served for more than two decades. Over her career, she has been recognized with ever-increasing responsibility and assignments. Her experience includes providing protective details for United States senators and visiting dignitaries, supervising hundreds of officers, leading security efforts for President Obama’s second presidential inauguration, and serving as assistant chief for protective and intelligence operations. She served as interim chief of USCP for six months in the aftermath of the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Throughout her career, Chief Pittman has demonstrated her abilities in the key areas of innovation and change management; collaboration and partnership with community; demonstrated commitment to the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice, and she has developed subject matter expertise and experience in modern policing principles. The combination of Chief Pittman’s experiences, values, and skills meet the vision for this crucial safety role. Her experience at the large, public campus of the U.S. Capitol Complex will serve the UC Berkeley campus with its tens of thousands of daily users that share many safety challenges.
While this is Yogananda’s first assignment in higher education, she is a lifelong scholar who is excited to become part of Berkeley’s community of learning. She is a graduate of Morgan State University in Maryland, obtained her master’s degree in public administration from Marist College in New York, and is a Ph.D. candidate in public administration from West Chester University in Pennsylvania. She is also a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy, a member of Women in Federal Law Enforcement and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
