Seattle City Council confirms Shon Barnes as police chief

The Seattle City Council on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Shon Barnes as the city’s police chief, citing his skills as a communicator and his willingness for collaboration in turbulent times.

Council members heaped praise on Barnes, who stepped in as interim chief in January following the termination of Adrian Diaz, whose four-year tenure saw an exodus of officers, plummeting department moral, a scandal involving an alleged affair with his chief of staff, and a string of sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits from members of his command staff.

Since his appointment as interim chief, council members said, Barnes has begun to turn the department around, with more new hires compared to previous years and a new sense of professionalism infusing the rank and file.

This has been a long time coming,” Councilmember Mark Solomon said.

Barnes, the former chief in Madison, Wis., is the first outsider to run the department since 2018 and the departure of Kathleen O’Toole. Her successor, longtime department insider Carmen Best, retired in September 2020 following community backlash — and efforts to defund the police — over the department’s handling of the Black Lives Matter protests.

“Now more than ever the department has needed an outside leader,” said Councilmember Rob Saka. “I think you are the right leader — the right outside leader — at the right moment and for the right department.”

Barnes, a former high school history teacher and Marine who holds a Ph.D., is considered a front-line reformer in law enforcement circles and clearly impressed members of the council with his willingness to listen and collaborate with city leaders and citizens alike. He is the city’s 38th police chief.

Councilmember Bob Kettle, chair of the Public Safety Committee, said “I think we have a nominee committed to reform with Seattle values.” He said Barnes has “given himself” to the city’s diverse communities through outreach and neighborhood meetings.

“The key thing here, for our city and for our police force, is the idea of being professional,” Kettle said. “It’s knowing what our job is.”

Several council members said they hope Barnes will prove to be the right leader during a time of national tumult and concerning federal overreach. They mentioned recent incidents involving masked and unidentified agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement — acting on orders of President Donald Trump — taking immigrant Seattle residents into federal custody for possible deportation.

Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, who has joined protests over ICE actions, said she hopes Barnes will keep the city “safe from the actions of the Trump administration.”

Kettle, a former naval intelligence officer, acknowledged public comments before the confirmation hearing expressing concerns that America was moving toward the sort of authoritarian government seen in Russia and elsewhere. The remedy, he said, is that police have to be professional — a trait he said Barnes brings with his confirmation and is instilling in the ranks of the Police Department.

“We need to create a safe base in our city,” he said.

Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth praised Barnes for moving to build trust with young people, which she described as a “central part of community safety.”

“If you keep our kids safe … our babies safe, then we are all safe,” she said.

Barnes, 50, promised to continue collaboration with the council and Seattle’s residents, saying he had lunch with a Seattle community member Tuesday whose observations stuck with him.

“He said, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone,’” Barnes recalled. “‘But if you want to go far, go together.’”

“This is where I want to end my career,” Barnes said. “I want to be a part of the story that will be written on how the Seattle Police Department became a national model for policing. The real work begins now.