Seattle’s Acting Police Chief Sue Rahr discusses leadership priorities

SEATTLE – Just two days after a leadership shakeup at the Seattle Police Department (SPD), Acting Police Chief Sue Rahr spoke to KING 5 about her leadership priorities and efforts to improve the department’s culture.

On Wednesday, former Police Chief Adrian Diaz was relieved of his post and assigned to special projects within the department. Former King County Sheriff Sue Rahr was named interim police chief.

“It’s an uncomfortable situation,” Rahr said of Diaz’s transfer, adding that she believes Mayor Bruce Harrell did “an honorable thing” by making the transition with as little drama as possible. It’s unclear whether Diaz’s transfer will still receive a police chief’s salary.

Rahr said discussions about the leadership change began with a phone call on May 20 in which Deputy Mayor Tim Burgess asked Rahr if she would be willing to come out of retirement to bring stability and reform to the city’s police department for six months.

“There are a lot of great people working at the Seattle Police Department and this hurts my heart because I love the police profession and I know that most police officers are trying to do good,” she said. “It’s very hard to see how little support they feel.”

Rahr has worked in public service for 45 years. She began her law enforcement career in 1979 as a deputy with the King County Sheriff’s Office. She was appointed King County Sheriff in 2004 and elected sheriff in 2006. She served two terms and retired in 2012 to become executive director of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission.

The Seattle Police Department has recently been the subject of a number of lawsuits accusing it of racial discrimination, sexism, harassment and retaliation.

RELATED: Here are the lawsuits the Seattle Police Department and Diaz are currently facing

As far as the culture of the SPD and within the SPD is concerned, trust must be restored internally, said Rahr.

“My goal is to calm this tumult and get people to refocus on their work and focus on the question, ‘What are we doing for the community?'” she said.

In an internal email, Rahr told staff that she had no plans to make any personnel changes to the command staff and brought Tyrone Davis, the deputy chief of special operations, back from vacation. Vice Chief Eric Barden will also remain on staff.

In view of the flood of accusations within the ministry, including some directed against the SPD leadership, Rahr defended her stance.

“I want to restore the culture: we are fair, we hold people accountable, but we do it fairly, we follow due process. And we give people the opportunity to voice their opinions.”

She said Seattle communities should have confidence in their police department because it has a lot of talent and work behind the scenes. “The Seattle Police Department has incredible resources and people who really want to do good police work,” she said.

Diaz’s departure comes at a time when SPD is at its lowest staffing level in 30 years, having lost more than 700 officers in the past five years. In March, the department had 913 active police officers.

“If we don’t have enough staff, we can’t do our job to the best of our ability,” she said.

Rahr said her top priority is to improve staffing and create an influx of applicants by making the department attractive to both candidates and the next permanent chief.

“We know there’s been a lot of turmoil in Seattle,” she said. “And it’s going to take a brave leader to step into a department where there have been some problems.”