At the first public meeting on the search for Seattle’s new police chief, a discussion about the hiring process quickly became a conversation about personal loss and whom the city is prepared to entrust with authority over public safety. Residents of South Seattle asked for a leader familiar with local neighborhoods, families, and long-standing conflicts not through official reports, but through firsthand experience working in the community. For Lonnesha Landry, who lost her son Xavier to gun violence, the demand is not about abstract policy. It is about whether officials will listen to families living with the consequences of violence every day.
The meeting took place September 26 at the Van Asselt Community Center in South Seattle and launched a series of listening sessions organized by Mayor Katie Wilson’s office in partnership with Seattle Neighborhood Group. Formally, attendees were asked to identify the qualities, experience, and priorities they wanted in the next chief of the Seattle Police Department. But their responses reflected, above all, a desire for someone who would not have to get acquainted with the city only after being appointed—and who would not appear in neighborhoods solely during times of crisis.
Landry knows the cost of that presence. Her son, 16-year-old Xavier Lamont Machi Landry, was killed on the evening of July 12, 2024, in Auburn after suffering multiple gunshot wounds during a shooting on Southeast A Street. Two other teenagers were wounded and survived. Since then, Landry has become a community activist and founded Just/Us Love Ones, an organization that supports siblings of people killed in homicides. At the meeting, her story gave the debate over the future police chief the concrete urgency often missing from official discussions about safety.
The demand for a “local” candidate does not necessarily mean calling for someone from the department’s current leadership to be promoted automatically. Rather, residents are seeking someone who understands how South Seattle, the Central District, Downtown, and northern neighborhoods differ; knows the local schools, faith communities, businesses, and youth-serving organizations; and understands the city’s distinct communities. In a city where trust in police has remained fragile for years, geographic familiarity has also become a test of accountability: the chief must be accessible not only to the mayor and City Council, but also to people who typically find themselves on the other side of the police tape.
That concern also reflects a broader regional context. In 2024, King County recorded 75 deaths from gunshot wounds, 369 shooting survivors who were injured, and 1,591 shooting incidents. The number of victims under 18 reached 61—45 percent more than the previous year. Nearly two-thirds of the minor victims were injured outside Seattle, underscoring that city boundaries mean little to families when violence moves between the southern suburbs and the county seat.
The search began after yet another sharp turn in the department’s leadership. In late July, Sean Barnes resigned under pressure from Mayor Wilson following criticism of the city’s response to a shooting during the Bite of Seattle festival. André Sales took over the department on an interim basis. Seattle has had eight police chiefs in the past 17 years—a history that leads many residents to expect the next appointment to provide not merely a new name, but stability and clear direction.
The next chief’s responsibilities will extend far beyond managing patrol operations. The job description calls for developing a staffing strategy, improving responses to 911 calls, reducing gun violence, increasing clearance rates for serious crimes, and coordinating with city agencies, community organizations, and health-care institutions. The department’s 2026 budget is $488.6 million, and its authorized staffing includes more than 1,200 sworn officers and approximately 600 civilian employees. The question, therefore, is not only who will become the face of the police department, but also whether that person can change the day-to-day work of a large and complex institution.
The mayor’s office is conducting a national search and is considering candidates both within the Seattle Police Department and from outside it. An advisory committee co-chaired by former Washington State Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu and public-policy expert Ian Warner is expected to evaluate applicants in the fall and submit up to five names for competitive consideration. Final interviews with the mayor are scheduled for November and December, with a decision expected in early 2027, after which the nominee must be approved by the City Council. The next listening sessions are scheduled for September 28 at Seattle University and September 30 at North Seattle College. For the residents who came to Van Asselt, these are not simply steps on a hiring timeline, but a rare opportunity to tell the city in advance what its police chief should be—before that person receives an office, authority, and the keys to the department.
Based on: As Seattle searches for a new police chief, resident say they want someone local - The Seattle Times