Barnes’ schedule had him out of the office 12 weeks through mid-August, including a three-week stretch between July and mid- August.

By Erica C. Barnett

A mostly complete version of former Seattle police chief Shon Barnes’ schedule for 2026, which SPD previously claimed had been “locked down” when he resigned, shows that Barnes was, or planned to be, out of the office nearly 40 percent of the time through mid-August.

PubliCola obtained Barnes’ schedule through a records request.

Barnes was out of town or otherwise off duty at least 75 days between January and the end of July, and had planned to be off the first 10 days of August, for a total of at least 12 planned weeks out of the office in the seven and a half months leading up to August 10, 2026, the last day for which SPD provided a full or partial schedule.

Barnes’ calendar contradicts Barnes’ claim that PubliCola’s reporting on his absences from Seattle was inaccurate; we reported that he had “planned to be out of town until mid-August, taking several weeks away from Seattle during the period when shootings and other violent incidents are most likely to occur.”

The schedule SPD provided still does not reflect Barnes’ original calendar for the week of July 26. Instead, it has edited to replace Barnes’ original schedule with events related to the shooting.

However, a spokesperson for SPD confirmed that Barnes planned to be out of town that entire week, with another member of his command staff serving as active chief during his absence.

This newly available timeline contradicts SPD’s (and Barnes’) previous claim that he had planned to be back in town on August 3.

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When South Seattle Emerald reporter Connor Nash asked Barnes about my reporting on his schedule, he lost his temper and claimed my reporting was inaccurate, resulting in a video that went viral and contributed to Wilson’s decision to ask for his resignation.

The calendar SPD originally provided to PubliCola was not taken directly from Barnes’ schedule. Instead, it was altered by someone at SPD in ways that make it appear Barnes was in town more often than he was.

Public agencies are supposed to provide existing documents, like Outlook calendars, in their original format; they aren’t allowed to alter public records except when information is exempt from public disclosure under the Public Records Act. If an agency is going to redact or alter documents, they have to identify what specific exemption applies for each redaction in an exemption log. SPD did not do any of those things.

The version SPD originally provided appears to have been altered in two respects, in addition to the changes SPD staff made after the shooting. First, it has been color-coded in a different way than the original. Second, large blocks of purple, an Outlook feature that indicates the times when Barnes was out of the office and unavailable, have been removed.

The visual difference between the two versions of the calendar is fairly stark:

The 85 days that Barnes’ calendar show him out of the office are a minimum. As with his 2025 calendar, most of Barnes’ weekends are empty, and many are preceded by Friday afternoons that are blocked off, with nothing on the calendar, starting as early as 1pm, which could indicate time off or out of town.

Of the 75 days Barnes was out of the office between January and July, he spent about 27 attending five conferences across the country—in Detroit, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Las Vegas, and Dallas, respectively. The conferences all took place between April and July, so Barnes was at a conference, on average, about a week each month during that period.

Much of Barnes’ remaining time out of Seattle consisted of trips home to Chicago, which accounted for a minimum 20 days of the 75; other days off were marked “private appointment” “vacation” “focus time” or “out of office” blocks with no additional information, so it’s impossible to say with certainty where he was. Barnes’ frequent travel meant that there were large, nearly continuous chunks of time when he was nowhere near Seattle. Between May and July, Barnes’ calendar shows just three weeks—the weeks of May 11, June 7, and June 21—when he was on duty and available all five weekdays.