Central District Residents Share Input at Police Chief Search Listening Session
Mayor Wilson’s director of public safety Alison Holcomb walks Central Seattle community members through the phases of the city’s recruitment for a new police chief on Sep. 28 in Campion Ballroom. (Photo: Nyla Moxley)
By Nyla Moxley
As Seattle conducts a nationwide search for a new chief of police, Mayor Katie Wilson’s office is turning to the public in a series of listening sessions in North, Central, and South Seattle. Central District community members filled Campion Ballroom at Monday evening’s session, the second in a three-part series.
This recruitment follows a period of turmoil at the city after a shootout left three dead and two injured at the Bite of Seattle Festival in July and at least one suspect still on the run. Shon Barnes, then-Seattle Police Department (SPD) Chief, was out of town attending the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives conference in Texas. Wilson asked Barnes to resign a few days later.
In tables of about seven to nine people, attendees had 15 minutes to discuss four prompts: the desired work experience of the future police chief, character qualities, how they might build community trust, and positive changes they could make for the city.
The community members in attendance represented a variety of neighborhoods, including the Central District (CD), Capitol Hill, South Lake Union, and East Lake. They subsequently stressed a variety of location-specific issues.
Attendee Josette Wicker said she does not care where the next chief is from, but rather the values and ethos they operate with.
“What matters is when they come here that they view us as neighbors,” Wicker said. “The individual that you are arresting, the individual that you're seeing are going through a crisis; you view them as a human going through something and would treat them the same way you would treat your auntie.”
Attendees emphasized that a new police chief should have “big city” policing experience, be transparent about priorities, and value “fact-based accountability.” Attendees routinely referenced the Bite of Seattle shooting, calling for a candidate who is public-facing, adept at delegating responsibilities, and takes accountability.
Attendees from Central Seattle fill tables at Campion Ballroom to discuss what they want out of a new Seattle police chief at a listening on session Sep. 28. (Photo: Nyla Moxley)
These public forums are all hosted in conjunction with the Seattle Neighborhood Group (SNG), a community-based nonprofit focused on public safety, and are one facet of the mayor’s office “community-centered” process. SNG facilitators and notetakers accompanied community members at each table.
“We said yes because we don't want to be a part of anything performative or a checkbox,” executive director at SNG, Aaron Yoon, said. “We want authentic feedback.”
Yoon explained that SNG will work to identify and consolidate core themes from the handwritten feedback across listening sessions. These findings will be compiled in a report for the mayor’s police chief search advisory committee, composed of community leaders and public safety experts, who will use it to inform their consideration of applicants.
Wilson’s Director of Public Safety, Alison Holcomb, described the listening session as one of three “streams” of input. The other two are a public survey closed Sep. 15 and a series of eight round tables hosted by the mayor for constituencies disproportionately impacted by policing.
“They [Seattle community members] want to trust that this mayor has their needs, their interests first in making this choice, and so that's why we're ensuring that all of the community input that we're receiving gets documented, gets shared back out to the community, and that all of the advisory committee members are required to review that before they start reviewing the applicant materials,” Holcomb said, explaining that advisory committee members are required to attend at least one listening session.
Police chief search advisory committee co-chair and former Washington state Justice, Mary Yu, was in attendance at Monday's session. Holcomb noted that it’s critical to build trust between a chief of police and the people they are policing. To her, these sessions are setting up the next chief for success.
“One of the themes that we hear repeatedly is the importance of people feeling that the chief lives here, lives among them, knows their communities, is out in community, not just responding to 911 calls, but proactively getting to know people at their shops, at their grocery stores, at their barbecues, in their parks, and is really embedding themselves in the fabric of the city,” Holcomb said.
A sign guides attendees to Mayor Wilson’s police chief search listening session for Central Seattle residents on Sep. 28 in Campion Ballroom at Seattle University. (Photo: Nyla Moxley)
SNG project manager Cathie Wilmore echoed the community’s emphasis on a chief who builds trust by engaging with the community in a hands-on way. For Wilmore, the culture at SPD starts from the top and trickles down.
“Our youth are served, not policed, and our communities are feeling the trust that we want — we don't want to be suspects when they enter in our communities, we want to be seen as community members, not a threat,” Wilmore said.
Wrapping up the event, table facilitators shared summaries of the respective questions. Thomas Jackson, SNG facilitator, shared on behalf of his table group that community members want someone who does not treat Seattle and its over 80 neighborhoods as a monolith.
“We're just looking for someone who actually knows the people so that they can implement things that pertain to the situations that we're going through in each neighborhood because it changes from neighborhood to neighborhood,” Jackson said. “We don't need blanket strategies, we need things that are tailored towards each neighborhood.”
This public engagement phase of the Seattle police chief selection process is set to run through October, with finalist interviews taking place in December 2026. Applications are open through Oct. 27, and a selection is expected to be announced in early 2027, according to the mayor’s office.
The Seattle community can continue to provide feedback and perspective at the final listening session on Wednesday at North Seattle Community College.
