Seattle – Today, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced that he will nominate Police Chief Shon Barnes to the City Council for confirmation after serving 100 days as interim chief. The chief’s effective and energetic first 100 days included getting to know the Seattle community through extensive community engagements and early efforts showing positive results increasing officer recruitment and reducing crime.
READ: Chief Barnes in the Seattle Times: How our department is policing forward
“Chief Barnes’ record of effective, community-based policing made him an outstanding candidate in our national search for Seattle’s next police chief, and, in his first 100 days, he has further demonstrated that he is the right leader to move our police department forward. By nominating him to the City Council for confirmation as our permanent chief, I’m excited to see the continued positive impact of his work to keep our city safe and strengthen our police department,” said Mayor Harrell. “Chief Barnes and I share a vision for a Seattle-Centric approach to policing to reduce crime and harm while improving quality of life for residents, and I look forward to seeing this plan continue to come to fruition.”
In his first 100 days, Chief Barnes made it a priority to introduce himself to Seattle, seeking out community organizations and local leaders to create a strong foundation in the city and build relationships with residents, City Councilmembers and departments, service providers, and law enforcement partners. Building on approximately 300 meetings from his first 100 days, Chief Barnes will continue to introduce himself to Seattle residents through one-on-one conversations and neighborhood public safety walks. He has also met extensively with Seattle Police Department (SPD) command staff to share his vision for supportive, professional, and mission-driven department.
Chief Barnes has prioritized welcoming new recruits and attended graduation ceremonies for four classes from the state Criminal Justice Training Commission, where he completed the Basic Law Enforcement Equivalency Academy. This year, Seattle has hired over 75 officers and received over 1,600 applications as of mid-May 2025. Hires of new and lateral officers continue to significantly outpace previous years, as do applications to join the department. If current trends continue, SPD is on track to hire over 150 officers in 2025, which would be the largest total hires in any year in recent record.
Reported crime in Seattle is also going down this year. In the first four months of 2025, violent crime was down 15% and total crime was down 7% compared to the same period in 2024. In the first quarter of 2025, violent crime went down almost 25% and total crime decreased by 24% compared to the first quarter of 2022.
“My first 100 days can be easily described as ‘a strong sense of urgency’. I immediately embarked on a foundation-building journey grounded in listening, assessment, strategic planning, and implementation, and the hard truth is that SPD has weathered a difficult five years — marked by leadership changes, staffing losses, and shifting public trust,” said Chief Barnes. “But we are charting a new course with Seattle-Centric Policing — a department-wide strategy rooted in three interlocking pillars: evidence-based, police-led crime prevention; community and government-led initiatives; and services and support-led efforts. Together, we will become the most innovative, responsive, and community-centered police department in the nation.”
In his first 100 days at SPD Chief Barnes has laid out a vision for the police department to be: compassionate guardians, trusted partners, and committed problem solvers. His Seattle-Centric policing philosophy is rooted in three strategies: evidence-based, police-led crime prevention; community and government-led initiatives; and services and support-led efforts.
“I’ve appreciated the opportunity to get to know Police Chief Barnes during his first several months leading the department,” said Councilmember Bob Kettle, District 7, Public Safety Committee Chair. “As we begin the formal confirmation process, I look forward to hearing more about his plans and vision for the future of policing in Seattle. This is a critical time for our community, and ensuring public safety remains a consistent concern for many residents across the city as there’s more to work to be done.”
Chief Barnes has committed to a rigorous and evidence-based approach to policing and engaged a wide range of experts in the development of his new policing plan. He has also consulted with Seattle University’s Circle Dialogue and met with student safety leadership, the Center for Evidence-Based Crime policy at George Mason University, and the National Network for safe communities at John Jay College.
“It is a pleasure to work with Chief Barnes,” said Bonnie Glenn, Interim Director Office of Police Accountability. “He is supportive of our accountability system, understands its critical role in maintaining the integrity of SPD, and it’s part in strengthening the relationship with the community we serve.”
Prior to coming to Seattle, Chief Barnes has served as the Chief of Police for Madison, Wisconsin from 2021 to 2024, and is a nationally recognized leader in reducing crime, improving community-police relations, and driving culture change. He had over 12 years of police command-level experience, including patrol, training, and recruitment, and served as a civilian police accountability executive in Chicago, where he helped meet the training plan requirements of a federal consent decree.
Chief Barnes was part of the officer safety and wellness committee under President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. He has served as a subject matter expert for the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and been recognized for his accomplishments and scholarship by the National Institute of Justice and Radford University’s Center for Police Practice, Policy and Research. In 2024, he was inducted into the Policing Hall of Fame at George Mason University’s Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy.