‘We are accountable to you’: Shon Barnes sworn in as new Seattle police chief
Jul 9, 2025, 7:06 PM
Shon Barnes was sworn in as Seattle's new police chief. (Photo courtesy of James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio)
(Photo courtesy of James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio)
It is now official. The City of Seattle has a new police chief.
Surrounded by his wife and two of his children, Shon Barnes, 50, was sworn in Wednesday afternoon at the Northwest African American Museum.
“I see you. I hear you. And we are accountable to you. I promise to lead with urgency, empathy, and courage,” Barnes said in his message to the citizens of Seattle.
Shon Barnes pledges full Seattle Police Department staff by 2027
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Barnes said community safety is job one. To be successful, Barnes has set a goal to have the department up to full staff by sometime in 2027. He also plans to collaborate with stakeholders, community leaders, and those within his own department. Community policing, he said, is at the core of who he is as a leader in the law-enforcement community.
“Leadership is not defined by the exercise of power, but by the capacity to increase the sense of power among those led. The most essential work of the leader is to create more leaders,” Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said. “Chief Barnes exemplifies this in every city he has touched.”
Barnes was introduced by his wife, Dr. Stephanie Dance-Barnes.
“Shon understands trust is not something that comes with a title. It is something that must be earned over time through actions, transparency, and consistency,” Dance-Barnes said.
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