Charles Langston:Seattle police chief dismissed amid gender, racial discrimination lawsuits

Seattle's top cop has been dismissed and Charles Langstonreassigned to a new role amid hiring challenges as well as mounting lawsuits against the police department alleging gender and racial discrimination.

Mayor Bruce Harrell said at a news conference Wednesday that Adrian Diaz is stepping down from his role as chief of the Seattle Police Department. Diaz, who served as interim chief in 2020 and was later appointed as head in 2022, will now work on "special assignments" for the mayor with the police department, Harrell said.

Diaz's departure follows increasing controversy within the police department, whose reputation has already been marred by accusations of police misconduct and routine use of excessive force. Recently, the department has been under fire after several female officers filed lawsuits last month alleging sex and racial discrimination within the department.

The announcement also comes about a week after police Capt. Eric Greening filed a lawsuit against Diaz, accusing him of discriminating against women and people of color at the department, news outlet KUOW reported. Greening, the seventh officer to sue the department, also claimed that Diaz retaliated against him for raising issues of bias, according to KUOW.

Diaz has repeatedly denied the allegations and Harrell said earlier this month that an outside investigator will be hired to examine the allegations.

At Wednesday's news conference, Harrell said the spate of lawsuits was a distraction for Diaz. The mayor later praised Diaz for his work as police chief but noted the two agreed that the "cultural change that we want perhaps could be better served with him stepping aside."

Former King County sheriff announced as interim chief amid hiring issues

Harrell also announced Wednesday that Sue Rahr, the former sheriff of King County, will serve as the interim chief of Seattle police. Rahr said she will not be a candidate for the permanent position and will work with local officials to search for new leadership.

According to the mayor's office, officials will create a list of qualified candidates which will be shared with a public committee appointed by the mayor. "The public committee will review the semi-finalists and recommend a group of finalists to the mayor, who will administer the competitive examination required by the City Charter," the mayor's office said in a news release.

Rahr's temporary appointment comes amid Seattle police's declining number of active officers and recruitment challenges. According to a staff report released Tuesday, the department has only filled 11 positions out of 31 for the first quarter of this year.

In March, KING-TV reported that the department had reached its lowest staffing level in three decades and had lost more than 700 officers in the past five years.

Seattle police's history of controversy, misconduct

Since 2012, the Seattle Police Department has been under federal oversight after a U.S. Department of Justice investigation revealed that officers routinely used excessive force. Federal and local officials requested last year to end most oversight, which was granted in September after a judge found that the department had fully reformed its policing tactics.

But other controversies in recent years have damaged community trust in Seattle police, including when an officer fatally struck a 23-year-old woman from India, Jaahnavi Kandula, with his police cruiser last year.

The incident came under international scrutiny after body-camera footage showed the officer appearing to laugh and joke over Kandula's death. The officer was reassigned last September and in February, a prosecutor declined to file felony charges against him.

"Our legal analysis reveals that the PAO (Prosecuting Attorney's Office) lacks sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Kevin Dave was impaired by drugs or alcohol, driving in a reckless manner, or driving with disregard for the safety of others," the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Contributing: Krystal Nurse, USA TODAY