Former Seattle Police Department Chief Shon Barnes lands private-sector job

Former Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes is taking his public-safety experience into the private sector.

Barnes is joining MissionRT, where he’ll advise law-enforcement agencies on leadership, technology, and organizational change.

Barnes said chiefs need partners who understand the responsibility of leading a department, and he wants to help agencies turn new technology into “meaningful results.”

“I am not leaving the mission of policing. I am bringing that mission to a new platform so I can help more first responders succeed,” Barnes said in a prepared statement. “I know what it means to be accountable for the people you lead and the communities you serve. Chiefs need partners who understand that responsibility and stay engaged as they put new capabilities to work. At MissionRT, my focus will be helping departments connect the right tools with the right leadership, training, and strategy, so innovation translates into meaningful results for officers and communities.”

In late July, Barnes resigned as Seattle Police Department (SPD) Chief at Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s request, days after a gang-related mass shooting at the Bite of Seattle festival left three dead.

Barnes held the office of chief for approximately 12 months, replacing interim chief Sue Rahr, although he had held the role since January 2025.

Barnes’ tenure

Before the Bite of Seattle shooting, Seattle recorded 15 homicides in 2026, including its first homicide-free June since 1970. The City of Seattle has had a year-by-year decrease in homicides since 74 occurred in 2023.

“In 2025, Seattle reported an 18% decline in overall crime, homicides fell 36%, and SPD’s homicide clearance rate rose from 57% to 86%,” MissionRT stated. “The city’s Real-Time Crime Center, whose final implementation Barnes helped guide after the initiative began before his arrival, supported 17 homicide investigations and contributed to 10 case closures.”

After Barnes was chosen as chief by former mayor Bruce Harrell, Wilson kept him on, saying she’ll work with Barnes “to make SPD a place where professionalism, integrity, compassion, and community partnership are at the center of every action.”

He previously served as chief of police in Madison, Wisconsin.

When Barnes was sworn in as chief, he announced a goal for himself: To have the SPD at full staff by sometime in 2027. Community policing, he said, is at the core of who he is as a leader in the law-enforcement community.

Barnes was the fourth chief of the Seattle Police Department since January 2018.

Bite of Seattle shooting

When a gang-related mass shooting broke out during the final day of Bite of Seattle at the Seattle Center, killing three and injuring at least four others, including a 2-year-old, it was revealed that Barnes was not in town to respond to the tragedy.

It took the police department five hours to hold a media briefing regarding the shooting, led by Tyrone Davis, the assistant chief for the SPD. It was then that the public learned the department had one suspect in custody, and that two guns were recovered at the scene. For the five hours prior, both the media and the public were only made aware that a shooting took place at Seattle Center from one SPD post on X.

Officers within the SPD claimed the delay was due to state dignitaries, including Governor Bob Ferguson and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, wanting to be present at the briefing. Wilson later claimed the delay was due to sorting through rumors to confirm the truth.

It wasn’t until approximately 17 hours after the shooting, during a press conference Monday, that it was reported and confirmed for the first time that one of the suspects died at the scene, a third remained missing and unidentified, and one was in custody.

City leaders have since held multiple press conferences to share more details and updates on the investigation with the media, with one conference nearly turning into “a scuffle.”

Barnes told the media he was out of town Sunday due to attending the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives Conference in Dallas. He then got into a confrontation with Connor Nash, a reporter for The South Seattle Emerald, after he asked the chief about reports that he is not in town often.

“I don’t have to tell you where I go,” Barnes said, as shown on video posted by KOMO News. “I have a medical procedure that I have to do on Friday.”

The reporter responded, and then Barnes replied, “No, you need to know this. I have been working as hard as I can for this city from the day I got here. Do you got that?”

“There are reports that you are not in town often,” the reporter said.

“Their reports are wrong,” Barnes responded. “Do you understand?”

Barnes was then pulled away to another room by an official who broke up the face-to-face confrontation, repeatedly telling Barnes, “Let’s go.”

A day later, Barnes strongly rejected suggestions that he frequently travels or is routinely absent from the city.

“I don’t travel as often as I would like to,” Barnes said at a Tuesday press conference. “I think any reports that I’m gone every weekend are grossly misstated.”

The Office of the SPD Chief published Barnes’ schedule for the year, including his absences. The schedule showed seven planned trips to conferences across the country, plus four trips to Chicago, where his family resides.

According to the SPD Chief’s Office, the department pays for his travel related to work conferences, while Barnes personally pays for his family trips to Chicago.

Publicola reported that Barnes has spent at least 47 documented days out of town this year through July 26. That number may be higher because SPD has not provided his calendar for January, February, or most of March.

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