Mayor Harrell to announce decision on Seattle police chief by end of month
Mar 2, 2022, 10:25 AM
Former Seattle Police Department Chief Adrian Diaz. (File photo: Elaine Thompson, AP)
(File photo: Elaine Thompson, AP)
It’s been nearly a year and a half since Seattle had a permanent police chief, but that wait will likely come to an end within the next few weeks, according to Mayor Bruce Harrell.
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Speaking to KIRO Newsradio’s Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin on Tuesday, Mayor Harrell intimated that an announcement on Seattle’s next full-time police chief will arrive “this month.” As to whether interim Chief Adrian Diaz may be tagged for the job, Harrell was effusive in his praise for the 20-plus year police veteran.
“He’s rising to the occasion,” he said. “We always comply with the charter responsibility of a search — I don’t break those procedures. But I am very pleased with what I’m getting out of him, and I believe he’s a man of high integrity.”
A typical process for hiring a new police chief will often see a handful of prospective candidates floated by the mayor, which we notably have yet to see occur over the course of this current search, leaving Diaz as the lone name known to the public. In his first question-and-answer session with the media in January, Harrell also expressed a willingness to give Diaz the “opportunity to show some brilliance” and potentially win the job outright.
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The last search for a new police chief in Seattle took place in 2018 after then-chief Katherine O’Toole stepped down, ultimately ending in Carmen Best’s appointment. The selection came after a controversial process, which saw Best left off the initial list of three finalists chosen by a 25-member search committee. Best eventually left the department in September of 2020 after two years as chief.
Diaz began his career in SPD as a patrol officer, later serving with the Bike Unit, as an undercover officer, and then a member of the investigations unit before becoming deputy chief under Best. Prior to that, he was also the assistant chief for the Collaborative Policing Bureau.
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