Seattle Police Chief

Seattle Police Department; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

The Seattle Police Department seeks an experienced law enforcement executive to serve as Chief. The leader will drive organizational strategy, administer resources, and uphold accountability across a 1,200+ sworn and 600 civilian workforce, reporting to the Mayor and collaborating with the City Council and community partners.

The Chief oversees policing priorities, budget and staffing strategies, policy direction, and command staff alignment, while building trusted relationships with unions,

Qualifications

• Experienced law enforcement executive with a demonstrated track record of effective organizational leadership.
• Proven ability to manage complex budgets, staffing, policy development, and inter-agency collaboration.
• Ability to build trusted relationships with unions, community organizations, and city partners.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Seattle Police Department with a focus on safety, equity, and service excellence.
• Develop and implement staffing, policy, and budget plans aligned with city priorities.
• Foster community trust, transparency, and accountability across the department and with city leadership.

Skills

Leadership

Change management

Budgeting

Community engagement

Job description

The City of Seattle seeks an experienced law enforcement executive with a demonstrated track record of effective organizational leadership, successful change management, responsible administration of public resources, productive relationships with law enforcement labor unions, and a clear focus on building the community relationships necessary to ensure that everyone in every Seattle neighborhood feels safe and in partnership with their police department.

The Seattle Police Chief leads the development of Seattle Police Department (SPD) goals in alignment with the mayor’s public safety vision. The chief is responsible for budget and staffing strategy, direction of policy development, and oversight of the delivery of police services. The chief supervises the department’s command staff and is responsible for ensuring organizational alignment in vision, values, and operations through the chain of command. The chief also provides expert counsel on policing issues and builds cooperative working relationships with the mayor, members of the city council, intergovernmental partners, neighborhood businesses and service providers, advocacy groups, and community members. Reporting to the mayor, this cabinet-level position leads the largest municipal law enforcement agency in Washington State, with more than 1,200 authorized sworn officers and 600 civilian employees.

The Seattle Police Chief is accountable for the following deliverables:

• Establish a clear understanding within the department and across the city that the Seattle Police Department’s top priority is that every person living, working, and recreating in Seattle feels safe and in a trusted relationship with the department.
• Develop and share with the Mayor’s Office a clear and specific staffing plan that aligns sworn and civilian personnel capacity and expertise with Seattle’s place- and problem-based public safety needs, and a reporting plan with metrics and cadence that allow continuous evaluation and improvement.
• In collaboration with the chiefs of the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) Department and Seattle Fire Department develop and share with the Mayor's Office a plan to improve 9-1-1 call response times that, includes clear protocols for coordinating deployment of Seattle's diversified response teams located in CARE and Seattle Fire Department's Mobile Integrated Health Program, including backups and handoffs that support the city's commitment to send the right response to every call.
• Develop and share with the Mayor’s Office a plan to strengthen community engagement in areas of concentrated criminal activity, strengthen investigative performance and results, improve crime clearance rates, and minimize prosecutor decline rates.
• In collaboration with regional public health providers and policy experts, community-based direct service providers, law enforcement partners, and small businesses and neighborhood organizations, develop comprehensive strategies to address gun violence and concentrated public disorder crimes. Partner across disciplines and jurisdictions to develop agreed metrics for evaluation and continuous improvement, and coordinated systems for sharing data regarding service delivery and impact.
• Build and maintain community trust through communication, strong accountability systems, and community engagement on policing priorities.

The Seattle Police Chief is responsible for managing police services to maximize effectiveness and efficiency, fostering an organizational culture of trust and commitment to the highest standards of professionalism, and earning the confidence and trust of the people of Seattle.

The priorities of the Seattle Police Chief are:

• Lead the Seattle Police Department – Ensure department operations, programs, resources, and employees equitably address the city’s public safety needs. Optimize community policing and crime prevention and reduction strategies, emphasizing accountability and transparency from the command staff to the rank and file. Align department operations with city objectives, the law, service equity, and regulatory compliance. Promptly identify and resolve organizational issues in collaboration with key stakeholders.
• Prevent and reduce gun violence and other violent crimes – Lead the implementation of holistic, evidence-based, community-led solutions to disrupt violence and reduce gun crime. Collaborate with community partners, other city departments, and partner agencies to enhance safety in heavily impacted neighborhoods.
• Operate with collaboration, transparency, and trust – Prioritize open, clear communication, genuine collaboration across city government, and hold a deep commitment to Seattle's communities. Center the principle that keeping people safe requires trust, and trust requires showing up in neighborhoods every day, building relationships with residents and community organizations, and being accountable to the people the department serves.
• Build a strong workplace culture – Clearly communicate the department’s policing vision, lead by example, and ensure effective, transparent policies. Foster an environment of continuous learning and improvement where officers understand policy updates and best practices, emphasizing de-escalation and openness to innovative alternatives. Prioritize officer well‑being and foster a transparent, accountable workplace aligned with the city’s values. Promote talent development to build a flexible, growth‑oriented workforce. Manage employees in a union environment, collaborate with union leadership, and oversee personnel actions, including hiring, grievances, and performance management.
• Collaborate with valued partners – Work with city departments, accountability partners, business and community organizations, and other agencies to promote public safety. Invest in relationships by engaging openly with residents, neighborhood organizations, businesses, educational institutions, faith communities, advocacy