Seattle police chief says biggest change he’s made is empowering precinct captains

SEATTLE - Seattle police Chief Shon Barnes has been on the job for around eight months, but was officially sworn-in in early July.

Barnes sat down with FOX 13 Seattle to discuss his priorities and some of the changes he has implemented so far. Keep reading to learn what he said. 

Staffing the SPD force

By the numbers:

When asked about the biggest challenge facing Seattle Police, Barnes said it was still recruitment and retention.

"Those are two things that are really on my mind when I wake up and when I go to bed. They're on my mind. I want to make sure that people who work here know that this department is a department in a city that supports their work when done correctly, and that I support their work, and that they have the tools, training, technology and team to get things done," Barnes said.

The department has recruited around 107 candidates in the first half of the year. All of those candidates will not pass the various stages of testing and standards to become a sworn officer. However, the city has seen an increase in people applying compared to previous years, with 4,000 applications coming in this year.

Sources tell FOX 13 Seattle that recruitment standards have been lowered to get more candidates through. We asked Barnes about those claims.

"My response to that is, those sources are incorrect. They're wrong. We are attracting a very high caliber of people with over 4,000 applications, and we take 100 people. What does that tell you about the number or quality of people that we're taking? If we were lowering our standards, if we were taking people who were not qualified, I will be sitting here now telling you that we have 400 people, but we don't do that." Barnes said.

Barnes went on to say that some of the recruits speak multiple languages and have served in the military and lived overseas.

"What we are looking for are people who have the aptitude to do this job that are culturally relevant, that understands the city of Seattle and that wants to serve, and I think that we’re finding them," Barnes said.

The department has struggled with record-low staffing. Currently, there are around 850 deployable officers.

As for the ideal officer count for a city with nearly 800,000 people, Barnes would not pinpoint a number.

"There is no magic number. If I say 2,000, then I should say 2,500. There is no magic number," Barnes said.

Numbers floated around in the past have been between 1,200 and 1,300 officers, but Barnes says he believes the force needs more officers than that.

"I think we are going through a staffing study now. We're in the early stages of that. We're trying to determine how to best quantify that. Some people use population, some people use workflow or work scope, but what I will say is we need as many qualified police officers as the city will allow us," Barnes said.

Barnes says, in his opinion, the best metric is workload.

What's changed in SPD?

Dig deeper:

Officer morale has been a point of contention and debate over the years. FOX 13 asked Barnes what he thought about the state of officer morale.

"I feel that morale is getting better when talking to police officers who have talked to other police officers, because sometimes they tell the chief, you know, the nice, pleasant things, but talking to officers who have talked to other officers, they say morale is getting better," Barnes said.

Barnes attributed the boost in morale to consistency in leadership and empowerment of officers to police.

He says one key change he’s made is giving more of a voice to precinct captains.

"I think the most significant change that I've made is empowering our precinct captains to use more of the entire police department and giving them access to other parts of the city in order to solve problems of crime and disorder," Barnes said,

Barnes says the captains bear the brunt of community complaints and concerns.

A 90-day pilot program for high-crime areas

What's next:

A lot of those complaints are coming from chronic crime hot spots like the Chinatown-International District and the Aurora Avenue stretch. Barnes says they’ve started a 90-day pilot program to address high-crime areas.

"In one of our precincts, I can't tell you which one, we now have two dedicated officers to that specific hot spot. And what we're trying to measure is whether or not there's going to be some change in the atmosphere," Barnes said. 

If effective, Barnes says they will expand that program.

As we near the end of summer, SPD is on the verge of a big moment. Barnes says he expects the federal consent decree to officially end this fall after 13 long years of federal oversight. Recently, the DOJ recommended that the decree end, saying SPD has made the necessary reforms to things like use of force and de-escalation. Barnes says he cannot take the credit since he’s only been on the job less than a year. He says it’s due to the work of the men and women of the Seattle Police Department.

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