Biography

Born in Oakland, a life-long BART-rider and Bay Area resident, Kevin Franklin was appointed as the Interim Chief of Police on May 2, 2023 to lead the BART Police Department during the transition phase to the next Chief. Kevin began his law enforcement career in 1989 at the Oakland Police Department. After transferring to the BART Police Department in 1996, Kevin had the opportunity to work in a variety of assignments as a BART Police Officer including patrol, SWAT, Honor Guard, data analysis, and was involved as an instructor for many of the subjects in the Department’s training programs.
 
Promoted to Deputy Chief in 2020, Kevin was assigned to lead the Operations Bureau for the majority of his time as a Deputy Chief. As a Lieutenant, Kevin worked as a member of the Department’s Command Staff at a time where the Department implemented sweeping changes as the result of reforms which resulted from the tragic death of Oscar Grant. While serving as the District’s Manager of Security Programs from 2011 through 2018, Kevin worked to implement smart security strategies and provided leadership for infrastructure hardening efforts throughout the BART District. As a recognized leader in transit security, Kevin is involved with the American Public Transit Association where he assists with development of recommended practices for securing transit systems in the United States and Canada.
 
Kevin holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree in Criminal Justice from California Coast University. Additionally, Kevin is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy (Session 236) and the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Policing.

 
Outside of work Kevin gives back to the community through volunteer work with local youth programs including Scouting.