Seattle’s embattled police chief has been removed from office, mayor Bruce Harrell said Wednesday, just days after an assistant police chief was placed on leave and amid lawsuits from at least six officers alleging discrimination against women and people of color.
Harrell said Chief Adrian Diaz has been replaced in the interim by Sue Rahr, a former sheriff of King County, where Seattle is located. Rahr most recently led the state’s police academy. She will not be considered a permanent replacement, Harrell said, and Diaz will be reassigned to work on “special assignments.”
At a news conference Wednesday to make the announcement, Harrell praised Diaz as a friend with “impeccable integrity.”
“We are now of course looking at the internal culture of the police department,” Harrell said. “We are trying to create a department that represents who we are at our best.”
He also said Diaz had realized that the kind of cultural change the department wants could be better achieved if he stepped aside.
Harrell said recent allegations of discrimination, harassment and bias led him to appoint an independent investigator to review the allegations.
Last week, Eric Greening, a 30-year veteran of the force, sued Diaz for retaliating against him after he reported discriminatory practices within the department. Greening’s lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, also names the city as a defendant. Greening claims that Diaz rejected his application to become deputy chief and his attempt to reapply to become assistant chief, demoted him to the rank of captain and abolished the Collaborative Policing Bureau, which he led.
In response to the lawsuit, Diaz’s attorney said in a statement before his firing: “Chief Diaz is confident that an objective assessment of the circumstances underlying Mr. Greening’s allegations will demonstrate that the department’s actions were appropriate.”
Last month, four female officers filed a $5 million tort claim, alleging they were and are victims of sex discrimination, sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. The claim was filed April 25 against the city and its police department on behalf of Kame Spencer, Judinna (Jean) Gulpan, Valerie Carson and Lauren Truscott. Diaz, Lt. John O’Neil and human resources manager Rebecca McKechnie are listed as “primary perpetrators.”
Police say they do not comment on pending lawsuits. The District Attorney’s Office, O’Neil and McKechnie did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“As a Hispanic American with decades of experience in law enforcement, Chief Diaz has faced significant discrimination throughout his career,” Diaz’s attorney, Ted Buck, said in a statement last month. “He understands very well the negative impact this can have, both personally and professionally.”
Based on that experience, Buck says, Diaz has directly encountered discrimination as head of the department and is proud of the department’s track record of addressing and overcoming inherent racism and sexism during his tenure.
The city has 60 days to respond to the tort claim filed by the four officers.
Sumeer Singla, the lawyer for the four women, said in an interview Thursday that Diaz’s dismissal further legitimizes their claim. Singla said police insinuated in a statement the day after the complaint was filed that his clients were liars who had individual grievances that made headlines.
“Fast forward, 30 days later, the chief of police is reinstated,” he said. “It is difficult for anyone not to think that the mayor’s actions add legitimacy to my clients’ claims.”
Singla added, “This department has not been repaired or cured of the ills brought against it during the consent decree,” referring to a federal consent decree Seattle was placed under in 2012 after police shot and killed John Williams in 2010. The judge last year terminated most provisions of the consent decree.
The city is also facing a lawsuit from Denise “Cookie” Bouldin, one of the first African-American women to join the department in the 1970s. She claims in a lawsuit filed in November that she experienced and endured decades of racist treatment and gender bias by her superiors and other officials.
“She is bringing this claim for damages in the hope that the department will authentically address issues related to racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination she has faced throughout her career,” her lawsuit said. The suit does not refer to Diaz.
Another woman, Deanna Nollette, a 27-year veteran of the department who rose to assistant chief in 2018, sued Diaz and the police department in January, alleging gender, pay and employment discrimination. Nollette’s criminal complaint states that she was assistant chief of the detective bureau last year. It is alleged that Diaz is “demeaning to women in law enforcement” and “has a history of misogyny.” The lawsuit states that she applied for the chief’s job, which Diaz had held on an interim basis, and that when he was appointed chief, he demoted her to captain.
Diaz’s lawyer said his client was “disappointed that a routine personnel decision had led to these demonstrably false claims” and that the facts would show the allegations were completely unfounded.
At Wednesday’s press conference, Diaz choked back tears as he read a brief statement.
“I have accomplished so much in my four years as chief, but there is still more to be done,” he said.
Diaz’s resignation follows last week’s announcement that Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis has been placed on administrative leave.
A representative of the Office of Police Accountability, an independent agency run by civilians, confirmed Thursday that it had received a complaint about Davis on May 8 and subsequently launched an investigation. A representative for the agency said he could not comment further. Davis heads the department’s Special Operations Bureau, which includes the SWAT team. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Diaz took over as interim chief in 2020 after Carmen Best resigned following a summer of demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the City Council approved downsizing the department. He was appointed to lead the department in 2022.
Harrell said he was intentionally looking outside the department for the next chief “to maybe tap into some talent in other cities.”
He said he hoped to hire a new chief within six months.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
