SEATTLE — Adrian Diaz was sworn in as chief of the Seattle Police Department Thursday after serving as interim chief since 2020.
The Seattle City Council confirmed Diaz with an 8-1 vote last week, with Councilmember Kshama Sawant being the single "no" vote.
He was previously selected by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell to serve as police chief.
Diaz began serving as interim chief after former Police Chief Carmen Best stepped down in August 2020. Best’s resignation came after a tumultuous summer of racial justice protests, culminating in the Seattle City Council voting to cut police department spending.
Diaz has worked for the Seattle Police Department for more than two decades. He worked in patrol, the mountain bike unit and the anti-crime team before joining the investigations bureau. He also served as assistant chief of the Collaborative Policing Bureau before he was promoted to deputy chief.
Diaz will be charged with addressing ongoing staffing challenges in the department. The number of deployable officers is the lowest in over 30 years. Officers are still leaving more quickly than the department can hire them, data shows. The department has lost 400 officers over the past two-and-a-half years.
After his confirmation, Diaz said that while the city has seen an increase in crime in the past few years and faced many challenges, including protests, the COVID-19 pandemic and resignations, he said officers continue to step up.
"It's such an honor to serve in this capacity," Diaz said.
The process to find the police department's next leader involved a national search and began in April. The city paid $75,000 for a search firm and held community forums to find the right candidate. The mayor appointed a committee who evaluated candidates.