SEATTLE, Wash. — Seattle’s New Police Chief Shon Barnes arrived in town Thursday. The list of challenges ahead of him may be as long as his journey from Madison, WI, where he had served as chief for the last three and a half years.
Barnes brings with him an experience that has created new recruitment strategies, addressed policing concerns in communities of color, and earned him national recognition for community policing strategies.
“Anyone who knows me knows that selfless public service is something I say over and over and over again.” Barnes said in an interview with KIRO 7, “in everything we do, we have to put others first. To me that’s the definition of a police officer.”
Barnes will be the eighth chief for the department since 2024. The last full-time chief, Adrian Diaz, was fired by the department after a relationship with one of his staffers. The scandal reportedly impacted morale and led city leaders to desire a leader from outside of SPD.
“I think it begins with consistency.” Barnes said of winning over current officers, “It begins with establishing trust it begins with doing the things you say you are going to do. It begins with visibility, shaking one hand at a time, getting to know the department, getting to know the culture of the department, and letting them know exactly where you stand on things you think are important.”
Barnes leads a department that hit its lowest staffing point in around three decades last spring. While Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office reports that more officers are joining SPD than leaving for the first time in years, the city remains with one of the smallest per-capita police forces.
Barnes partnered with non-profit groups to help recruitment in Madison that also focused on creating a more diverse police force. The Multicultural Officer Recruitment Effort (MORE) program helped lower the barrier for people looking to become a police officer. It would pay for overnight stays for people traveling for testing or training from the nonprofit groups and keep people listed who didn’t finish training who may be a good fit in the next recruiting class.
“Even if they change their mind, we held on to them if you will, kept them in the program give them opportunities to be involved with our police department and then many of them joined the academy the following year.” Barnes said.
Several instances have fractured trust between the community and SPD. An officer was caught on body camera saying a woman hit and killed by a speeding officer had “limited value.” The department has been hit with lawsuits alleging discrimination. More SPD officers attended the January 6th riot at the U.S Capitol, from the very-liberal Seattle. Barnes says bridging the trust between a community wishing for an agency that reflects their values and a police department craving support from its community.
“We also have to recognize that there are some communities where the trust never existed anyway.” Barnes said, “We have to begin to build that by putting ourselves in proximity with them. You cannot solve any problem, I don’t think, from a distance and so my job is to create opportunities for police to be in communities and show the community who we are without having to be there simply for a call to service.”
That’s a tenant of the community policing Barnes has been nationally recognized for, saying it’s his job to give officers the opportunities to be in communities when they’re not just responding to calls in order to build relationships with the people there.
“But it’s probably one of the things in my career I’m most proud of. I have been able to develop a lot of police leaders, not just the police departments that I have been associated with but just throughout the country I have a lot of Mentees and people who I have helped to work and develop and that is one of the things I am looking forward to doing here at the Seattle Police Department.” Barnes said.
KIRO 7 News asked Barnes about transperancy, school resource officers, and the addiction and homelessness crises. See his response in his full interview below.
The department itself has spent years wading through controversy. From violent anti-police protests to shocking comments caught on officer body-worn cameras, to the most recent chief, Adrian Diaz, getting fired after the discovery of an alleged secret relationship with his Chief of Staff.
Barnes will now be the 8th chief to head the Seattle Police Department since 2000.
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