On Friday, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell officially unveiled his pick for next chief of police: Shon Barnes, who is currently chief of police in Madison, Wisconsin. Barnes won national attention for his handling of a recent mass shooting at a school, and Harrell praised his commitment to “evidence-based” policing and driving culture change.
“Earlier this week, under tragic circumstances, the nation received its introduction to Chief Shon Barnes. We all saw firsthand what our team has known since we began this recruitment process – that Chief Barnes possesses the impressive leadership capabilities, compassionate approach, and dedication to effective police work needed to continue moving our Police Department forward,” Harrell said in a prepared statement. “I’ve spoken with Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway to express my condolences and support as they process this week’s tragedy and to share my continued commitment to fighting for solutions to the gun violence epidemic that impacts every corner of our country through our shared work with the U.S. Conference of Mayors.”
Harrell finally fires disgraced former police chief Diaz
As Harrell announced his pick for Seattle Police Department (SPD) chief, he also sought to close the door on Adrian Diaz, his 2022 internal hire for police chief, whom he demoted in May among multiple scandals and investigations. At the time, Harrell was still lavishing Diaz with praise, calling him a friend, and offering him his full chief salary exceeding $350,000, despite his demotion.
On Wednesday, however, Harrell announced he was firing Diaz for lying to investigators about his relationship with his chief of staff, former FOX13 anchor Jamie Tompkins, whom he hired in May 2023 without disclosing his romantic relationship or considering other candidates. KUOW reporters Ashley Hiruko and Isolde Rafferty first broke the story on the alleged affair back in September 2023, which other media source and authorities largely ignored at the time, in part due to the vigorous efforts of Diaz and his personal attorney to squash the story.
Harrell’s Friday hiring statement alluded perhaps to a regret that he might not have made the best pick in 2022, despite past praise of Diaz.
“We took a different approach to this search process than those of the past, as we sought to seek out and recruit the best possible chief for SPD’s future,” Harrell said. “I am confident Chief Barnes is that leader, and that he can further advance positive strides in public safety in Seattle, rooted in innovation, accountability, and community partnership.”
The process leading to Barnes
Harrell said he will welcome Chief Barnes to Seattle with a public event in January, and “Chief Barnes will begin a series of meetings with community members in city neighborhoods.”
The Harrell Administration’s selection process was highly secretive this time around, with few outsiders aware of his finalists until he announced the pick. Interim Police Chief Sue Rahr and former Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole led the mayor’s vetting team, but apparently SPD top brass otherwise played little role, hinting at a desire to recruit outside the troubled department from the start.
The insular process limited the extent to which the Seattle Police Officers Guild could sway the decision, although the same is also true of the Community Police Commission and other community-based groups, which have had a chance to weigh in on past hires via a forum or other public-facing events. Seattle’s municipal code requires the Mayor to select a chief of police from “among the three highest ranking candidates in a competitive examination,” but the other candidates that Harrell was selecting from have not yet been made public.
Barnes has made a name for himself, helping to oversee turnaround in Madison crime statistics. Like many U.S. cities, homicide and crime rates ticked up in the first couple years of the pandemic, but began tapering off thereafter.
“Barnes brings to Seattle a record of accomplishment, including implementing solutions that have driven a 67% decrease in homicides, a 40% decrease in auto thefts, and a 19% decrease in reports of shots fired so far in 2024, as well as advancing strategies to build an inclusive police service where 28% of officers are women,” the Mayor’s office said.
As part of a 24-year career as a police officer, Barnes started out with the Greensboro, North Carolina Police Department, where he rose to the rank of captain. He served as deputy chief of police in Salisbury, NC, and then as Director of Training and Professional Development with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability in Chicago. In 2021, he took the reins as Madison police chief.
“I am truly honored to accept this position and thank Mayor Harrell for his trust and confidence. The mayor and I share a vision that crime prevention and community safety is a shared responsibility and that every community member plays a role in keeping Seattle safe,” incoming Chief Shon Barnes said in a statement. “My family and I are excited about the opportunity to integrate into Seattle’s vibrant community, known for its diversity, innovation, and resilience. I look forward to working alongside the dedicated men and women of the Seattle Police Department to uphold these core values.”
The Mayor’s Office said the City received a total of 57 applications from across the United States, which his team narrowed to a list of 44 qualified candidates. “The top four candidates were invited to take a competitive exam in November, as required by the City Charter,” a spokesperson said. “Three candidates – Chief Barnes; Nicholas Augustine, Assistant Chief of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Department of Police; and Emada Tingirides, Deputy Chief, Los Angeles Police Department – passed the exam and were forwarded to Mayor Harrell for his consideration and final selection.”
The Mayor’s office pointed to an online survey and a series of six public forums on public safety held earlier this year as guiding the hiring decision.
“[A]s part of the Charter-required competitive exam, the mayor sought insight and feedback from a diverse collection of community members,” the press release noted. “Earlier this year, the mayor’s office hosted six ‘Safer Seattle’ community forums focused on public safety. These meetings were held downtown and in the Bitter Lake, South Park, Rainer Beach, Central District, and Queen Anne neighborhoods. Public comment at these meetings and responses to an online survey helped shape the job description for the Chief of Police position.”
Seattle Councilmember Bob Kettle, who chairs the public safety committee, issued a supportive press release, suggesting council is on board with the pick.
The unraveling cover up that kept Diaz in office
Diaz had also commanded respect and deference from Harrell and most on council until it all came crashing down with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) findings that he lied to investigators and sought to cover up his affair with his recently hired chief of staff. PubliCola‘s Erica Barnett summarized the findings, which show Diaz becoming increasingly paranoid and defensive as he sought to hide the relationship. Ironically, Diaz also continued to brag about the relationship and his partner’s prodigious sexual appetite to subordinates, even as he tried to obscure cell phone records and his comings and goings.
The cover up effort culminated in Diaz doing on the conservative talk show hosted Jason Rantz to come out as gay, suggesting this absolved him of wrongdoing both in the alleged affair and the investigation into a purported pattern of sexual harassment and discrimination in his administration.
Harrell interviewed Diaz on December 12 to go over the OIG findings, KUOW reported, and the former police chief continued to maintain his innocence and story that he and Tompkins were in a platonic relationship, despite his boasts to colleagues and the love letter found in his car. However, Harrell ultimately found OIG’s narrative more convincing.
Righting the ship
Diaz’s predecessor, former police chief Carmen Best, also became embroiled in a scandal coverup with respect to how police abandoned East Precinct building amid protests in the summer of 2020, despite no order from the top of the chain of command, allegedly.
Seattle residents likely are hoping for a period of normalcy and competence after the annals of recent SPD leadership have been quite tumultuous, which likely presented a drag on efforts toward reform, improved morale, and recruitment.
Among Barnes’ first goals will be achieving full compliance with the federal consent decree, which has been in place since 2012 due to SPD’s pattern of excessive force use and racial bias. While working in Chicago as a civilian police accountability executive, Barnes helped meet the training plan requirements of a federal consent decree, the Mayor’s Office noted.
Seattle leaders likely hope that experience help in finally getting U.S. District Judge James Robart to lift the decree. Judge Robart has pointed to a need to ratchet up police accountability mechanisms and issue new crowd control regulations before he will consider Seattle fully in compliance. A bill rolling back restrictions on so-called “less lethal” weapons is before the City Council now.
Interim Chief Rahr will continue to lead and advise the department during the transition to Chief Barnes, but Barnes will not wait until a City Council confirmation vote to take the job.
“I look forward to collaborating with him over the next several weeks to ensure a smooth transition in late January,” Rahr said in a statement.” “The people of Seattle and the men and women of SPD are very lucky to gain such a knowledgeable and talented new leader!”
Douglas Trumm
Doug is publisher of The Urbanist.