Back in April, four women filed a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by the police chief and by the head of the public affairs department. Chief Adrian Diaz and Sgt. John O’Neil have reportedly been friends for a long time. Officer Valerie Carson worked for O'Neill in the public relations department but claimed in the suit that Chief Diaz seemed to take an unusual interest in her.

She claims Diaz "began to pay special attention to [her]" shortly after she joined the Public Affairs Unit, calling her to his office for long, mostly one-sided, conversations with her after hours, which forced Diaz's security detail to have to wait around, as well. Diaz also offered to do handiwork replacing the windows at Carson's new house. During New Year's Eve 2020, she said Diaz requested that she drive him around the city, and she thought the request was odd, so she asked that he bring his security detail with him. She said she was afraid he would try to make an advance at midnight, when people traditionally share a kiss to bring in the new year.

Carson said Diaz frequently made flattering comments about her pants, high heels or boots, but when she refused to ride alone with him on New Year's Eve, she claims Diaz had Sgt. O'Neil reprimand her for her attire.

That was followed by another lawsuit filed against the chief last week for discrimination.

A Seattle police captain sued Chief Adrian Diaz on Monday, alleging he retaliated when the captain reported discriminatory practices, bringing the total number of officers alleging discrimination and taking legal action against the department up to seven.

According to the civil complaint filed in King County Superior Court, 30-year veteran of the department Eric Greening alleges Diaz retaliated against him when Greening brought up concerns about discrimination. Diaz allegedly rejected his bid to reapply to be an assistant chief, demoted him and abolished the Collaborative Policing Bureau he led.

Greening, who is Black, is the sixth Seattle Police Department employee to file a claim against Diaz alleging discrimination in recent months. The department faces another claim from a retired officer who said she endured decades of discrimination while working for the department.

Given the trend, it wasn't a huge surprise yesterday when Seattle's mayor held a press conference to announce that Chief Diaz would be leaving his position. Officially this was framed as a mutual decision.

Seattle’s embattled police chief has been dismissed, Mayor Bruce Harrel said Wednesday.

Harrell said at a news conference that he met with Adrian Diaz on Tuesday and they agreed Diaz should step down. He will work on special assignments for the mayor with the police department, Harrell said.

But the tone of the announcement suggested Diaz wasn't happy about leaving.

“I want to thank the men and women of the Seattle Police Department for their hard work,” said Diaz, his voice breaking.

The devastation of this moment was evident for outgoing Seattle Police Adrian Diaz. After all, just 16 months ago, he was finally sworn in as Seattle’s top cop, having served as the city’s interim chief since 2020.

So, the weight of the decision to oust him seemed finally too much.

“And the community that has supported us through every challenge,” Diaz said, walking away, tearfully. “Thank you.”

Seattle had a pretty good police chief in Carmen Best who quit in 2020 after disagreeing with the city's mayor about the autonomous zone and then getting into a fight with the progressive creeps on the city council over plans to defund the police. They responded by cutting her salary. Chief Diaz then became the interim chief for two years before finally being given the job on a more permanent basis. Seattle now has a new interim chief but Diaz will not being leaving the city.

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 as a permanent replacement, Harrell said, and Diaz will be reassigned to work on “special assignments.”...

Harrell said he was intentionally looking outside the department for the next chief “to perhaps tap some of the talent in other cities.”

I guess getting a promotion to chief in a big city like Seattle is considered a big deal for people in that line of work but honestly I can't imagine why anyone would want the job. Indeed the city has been trying for years now to hire more officers. This report is from yesterday.

Greg Doss of the council’s central staff told the committee that Seattle is on track for “hiring quite a few fewer recruits than planned,” and the “challenge will be that because it takes a year to get an officer fully on the street through all the training, through the academy, through the student officer training, these things are still going to happen slowly.”...

Seattle Council Public Safety Committee Chair Bob Kettle suggested the recent legislation to improve officer pay and streamline recruitment will help, “I think that ship was also going to start churning as we go through 2024,” blaming past dysfunction on the recruiting challenges.

I'm sure higher salaries will help but the fundamental problem is that people don't want to work for a city that doesn't respect the police.