Seattle Police Department’s (SPD) four current assistant chiefs have been demoted in the department’s latest shake-up.
According to The Seattle Times, the assistant chiefs were allowed to reapply for their jobs, and they all did, but none were selected. They’ll either be demoted to captain or choose to retire, the Times reported. Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole has appointed four new police chiefs: two from within the department and two who are outsiders.
It’s good to see O’Toole making good on her promise to evaluate the current staff and make changes as needed. It isn’t without opposition, though, as SPD’s union takes on an ordinance that allows O’Toole to hire people from outside the department to high-ranking positions, the Times said.
It’s important for O’Toole to make her personnel decisions on who the best candidate is, not on who is already employed by the department — it should be no different than any other high-ranking position in other fields. It is if we were only able to hire superintendents from the existing school district personnel.
SPD has been on shaky ground since the 2012 Department of Justice consent decree that found SPD to be guilty of excessive force.
The efficacy of this decision will become clear as its revealed whether these new assistant chiefs can work well with those in their department. There are already some SPD officers who claim they cannot do their job effectively under the consent decree, as shown by the lawsuit they filed. If they’re not happy with their new management, resentment could continue to grow among the ranks.
But that decree exists for a reason, and there’s a rationale why each of the existing assistant chiefs were replaced, too. What’s most important is that the department moves in a positive direction, especially with the increase in crime in 2015.