By Erica C. Barnett

Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz has stepped down as chief after a series of scandals and lawsuits, many of them by women alleging discrimination and sexual harassment by Diaz and other officers in the department, multiple sources have confirmed.

Diaz will reportedly remain at the department in a special projects director instead of being fired—allowing him to retain a substantial six-figure salary without having to go back to his previous rank of lieutenant. The demotion would mean Diaz would lose his security detail and drivers, who reportedly account for an unusually large line item in the police department’s budget.

For months, the department has been roiled by allegations and lawsuits, mostly from female officers and staff alleging discrimination and harassment. Last month, four women sued the department, variously accusing Diaz and SPD’s communications department director John O’Neil of predatory and harassing behavior. The department also faces lawsuits by two high-ranking officers, former assistant chief Deanna Nollette and longtime department veteran Eric Greening, who argued that Diaz retaliated against them for seeking higher positions in the department. Diaz is also accused of having an affair with his female chief of staff.

Diaz demoted Nollette, a 27-year SPD veteran, from assistant chief to captain after she applied for the police chief position during Diaz’ time as interim chief, later moving her to a punishing night shift after she sued the department. Greening, who is Black, was demoted after he applied to be assistant chief; his lawsuit claims Diaz retaliated against him after he complained about discrimination in the department.

O’Neil has also been removed as head of the communications office, according to multiple sources, and was seen cleaning out his office this morning. PubliCola reported earlier this year about multiple complaints against O’Neil, who is also the subject of multiple lawsuits by women who worked for him and say that he sexually harassed and discriminated against them, using Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaints as a retaliatory weapon to punish and silence them.

Diaz, through his attorney and via supporters like SPD staffer Victoria Beach and Community Police Commission member Harriett Walden, has said his accusers are engaged in racist attacks against him, and suggested that he is incapable of discrimination because he faced it himself as a Hispanic police officer rising through the ranks.

Prior to working for the department directly, Beach was a paid consultant for SPD with a contract totaling at least $63,000. Walden, who founded Mothers for Police Accountability and frequently appears at mayoral press conferences as a community representative, had a $300,000 contract last year to provide a series of “Virtues Healing Circles”—supportive discussion groups—to communities that have experienced gun violence and other trauma, and to hand out “virtues cards” at events.

Harrell appointed Diaz permanent chief during his first year in office. Former mayor Jenny Durkan appointed Diaz interim chief when former chief Carmen Best resigned amid criticism over her handling of the 2020 protests against police brutality, sparked by the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Best, along with then-mayor Jenny Durkan, deleted thousands of texts exchanged during the crackdown on protesters.

The city council’s public safety committee received a briefing yesterday on the national “30 by 30” initiative, an effort to increase the number of female police officers to 30 percent by 2030. In Seattle, which is aiming for a more modest goal of 30 percent female recruits by 2030, the percentage of women in new recruit classes has steadily declined in recent years. Last year, just 7.4 percent of recruits who moved through the testing process were women, less than the national average of 13 percent female representation in police departments.

Because Diaz was Harrell’s choice to lead the department, the mayor was reportedly reluctant to remove him and go through yet another appointment process in the runup to the 2025 election. The last time there was a permanent police chief during a mayoral election was in 2005, when Gil Kerlikowske was chief and Greg Nickels was reelected to a second term as mayor.

This post has been corrected to remove a reference to SPD assistant chief Eric Barden. The original post, based on sources inside and outside SPD, said he had been seen clearing out his desk and that it was unclear why he was doing so. PubliCola has confirmed that Barden is still assistant chief at SPD and is not imminently leaving the department.