Seattle deputy mayor: New SPD chief to be appointed before 2024 ends

Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Burgess announced on KIRO Newsradio’s “The John Curley Show” Friday afternoon the city hopes to make an announcement about the new chief of the Seattle Police Department (SPD) in December.

Speaking to Tim Gaydos and Greg Tomlin, who were filling in for Curley, Burgess added that the city has successfully met their deadline to find a permanent replacement by the end of 2024.

“The news I’ll break is that we’re going to meet our deadline of appointing a new chief before the end of the year,” Burgess said during the interview Friday.

In a short statement emailed to KIRO Newsradio and MyNorthwest Friday afternoon, Jamie Housen, a spokesperson for Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, explained that a candidate hasn’t been chosen.

“We are confident we will have selected a new chief before the end of the year, but we have not made a final decision on that selection,” Housen said.

In his statement, Housen amplified Burgess’ point that the city hopes to make the announcement next month.

During the interview, Burgess told Gaydos and Tomlin that there was no possibility current Interim Police Chief Sue Rahr would stay on and take the position permanently.

“Yeah, that might be nice, but she made it very clear to the mayor and to me when we appointed her to the interim slot that she would only serve temporarily, through the end of the year,” Burgess said.

Rahr took over as Interim SPD chief after Diaz’s departure

Rahr, the former sheriff of King County, took over for former SPD chief Adrian Diaz, who left the position in May. She served as the executive director of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission and was a member of President Barack Obama’s task force on 21st-century policing.

“We might have to persuade her to stay a few weeks into January, but yeah, she served with distinction. “(She has) done a great job,” Burgess said to KIRO Newsradio Friday.

At the May press conference announcing Diaz’s departure as chief, Harrell faced repeated questions about the timing of the change. He said he had ongoing discussions with Diaz about issues, and recently, Diaz accepted an offer to stay with the SPD and work on “special projects.” When pressed, Harrell did not specify what those job duties would entail or what Diaz’s title and rank would be.

Diaz faced numerous accusations of creating a hostile work environment and has since filed a tort claims against the city, alleging he was was wrongfully discharged and harassed after coming out as gay.

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A claim of dishonesty to investigators and a potential violation of department policy led Rahr to place former Diaz on administrative leave last month.

That new information came in a letter Seattle Inspector General Lisa Judge sent to Harrell, City Council President Sara Nelson, City Attorney Ann Davison and the chair of the Public Safety Committee.

Head here or click on the box below to listen to the entire interview with Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Burgess.

Editors’ note: A previous version of this story stated a candidate to take over as chief of the SPD had been identified. The city clarified its position that a candidate has not been identified.

Contributing: Matt Markovich, KIRO Newsradio; KIRO Newsradio news desk

Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, or email him here.