SEATTLE — One month on the job, and interim Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr said she is working to change the culture at the department, but she faces a number of big challenges along the way.
KING 5's Jake Whittenberg and Mimi Jung sat down with Rahr and pressed her on her promise to build trust in the department, change Seattle Police Department (SPD) culture and address violence near Garfield High School after the recent shooting death of a student.
Rahr provided what information she could on the investigation, touched on use-of-force culture within the department, and said a conversation about the role of Seattle police in schools might be starting.
Q: Where is the department at in its investigation of finding the shooter (who killed a Garfield High School student)?
Rahr: They (investigators) definitely have a person that they're very interested in. We have to be very careful, number one, that we don't want to fan the flames of vigilante justice, obviously.
But we have to do our jobs, and we can't just take pieces of information off of social media. We've got a ton of people literally working around the clock. I am very satisfied that we are going to arrest the perpetrator, we are going to give the family justice.
Q: Was the shooting gang-related?
Rahr: I'm not going to talk about any of the details of this case at all, because I don't want to make it more difficult for investigators to put their case together.
Q: Do you think extra police officers on campus will help with the reduction of gun violence, or kids bringing guns to school?
Rahr: I've reached out to the superintendent of Seattle Public Schools to say, can we sit down together, hit the reset button and let's talk about what makes sense, in terms of police in schools?
My experience with the school resource officer program is, the officers are not there to be disciplinarians, they're not there for law enforcement, they're there to get to know the students and staff and understand what's going on in the environment. I also don't think we should have cops patrolling schools either, I think that is a mistake, I think we have to find the rational middle ground.
Q: The office of police accountability is investigating the recent beating of a man at a bus stop involving Seattle police officers. What about the internal culture in terms of use of force? Are you satisfied?
Rahr: Well I don't know enough yet, but I certainly believe looking into it, that the level and the frequency of police using force has dropped dramatically in the last ten years. I think the consent decree, as unpopular as it has been, has had the intended effect, I think officers are much more judicious about when and where to use force.
Q: In your time, you have six months in this role, how do you go about starting to change culture?
Rahr: I want to get people focused back on the job, less on their - you talked about, there's a lot of drama going on right now, and part of that is due to a lack of clear communication about why different actions have been taken.
I am moving some people out of centralized headquarters out into the field, we're looking at shifting staffing around, so taking those steps will telegraph - patrol is the core of what we do. We're going to shift our resources there. We're going to explain why we're doing things, so people aren't filling in the blanks. So it will be a series of steps.
My hope is to lay the groundwork for my successor to come in and be ready to take the department to the next level.
Q: The mayor said you've made it abundantly clear that you don't want this job permanently - who do you think should get the job?
Rahr: I don't know yet. I know between Kathy O'Toole, previous Seattle Chief - she and I have a lot of contacts around the country, and we are going to be making contact with people who seem like a good fit.
KING 5's Mimi Jung and Jake Whittenberg pushed Rahr on whether the next chief should come from inside the department, or elsewhere in the country. Whittenberg said Rahr and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell seem to be leaning toward an outside candidate, but Rahr said that did not mean they wouldn't consider inside applicants.
KING 5 reached out to Seattle Public Schools about Rahr's comments regarding police in schools - the district did confirm that they are working with SPD on potentially hosting conversations, with students included, about what reintegrating officers in schools could look like.
Internal challenges persist, top employees under investigation
Rahr faces a host of internal challenges at SPD, including allegations exposed by the KING 5 Investigators that found a deputy chief and an assistant chief are under criminal investigation related to alleged crimes against women. Both are still serving in their roles at the department.
Multiple law enforcement experts consulted by KING 5 were troubled to hear two top-level police officials in the same department are under separate criminal investigations and remain on the job.
Deputy Chief Eric Barden had been placed on administrative leave by former Chief Adrian Diaz in May, but Rahr reinstated him.
Experts told KING 5 that is not in line with best practices. She defended that decision to KING 5 investigator Kristin Goodwillie.
"I reviewed the facts available to me, and based on my judgment and experience, I made the decision that it was appropriate to bring him back to work," Rahr said in a previous interview.
That includes new allegations exposed by the KING 5 Investigators, that found a deputy chief and an assistant chief are under criminal investigation related to alleged crimes against women.
Neither Barden nor Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis have been charged with a crime.
The department is facing legal action from at least seven employees alleging racial and gender discrimination within the department under Diaz's tenure.