Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes has reportedly been asked to step down. This comes after a row over the police chief being out of town the day of the mass shooting at the Seattle Center, during the Bite of Seattle food festival. Three people lost their lives in the shooting, which took place last weekend.
The news of Barnes stepping down was reported by NBC affiliated King5 and KIRO Newsradio. The latter reported that Mayor Katie Wilson fired Barnes.
As per reports, he was initially given a choice to resign or be fired, and the police chief had refused to step down. The 51-year-old was reportedly attending a silent vigil for the victims of the mass shooting before he left abruptly to meet with the mayor.
However, there’s no official confirmation of Barnes being fired yet.
What is the row surrounding Shon Barnes
Barnes was not in town the day of the mass shooting. It ultimately took his police department five hours to hold a press conference to address questions about the shooting. At this time, the public got to know that one suspect was in custody and two guns had been recovered from the scene. Prior to this, people just knew that a shooting had taken place at Seattle Center, via a X post from the SPD.
Barnes also had a showdown with Connor Nash, a reporter from the South Seattle Emerald, who asked Barnes about reports of him not being in town often.
“I don’t have to tell you where I go. I have a medical procedure that I have to do on Friday,” Barnes said, as per a KOMO News video. Barnes further said “No, you need to know this. I have been working as hard as I can for this city from the day I got here. Do you got that?”.
When the reporter asked “There are reports that you are not in town often,” Barnes replied “Their reports are wrong. Do you understand?”. He had to be pulled away by an official who broke up the face-to-face, telling Barnes, ‘let’s go.’
Who is Shon Barnes?
Barnes has been honored as a National Institute of Justice, LEADS Scholar (Law Enforcement Advancement using Data and Science) for his use of technology and scientific methods to combat crime. He served as the Chief of Police in Madison, Wisconsin and was the Director of Training and Professional Development for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability in Chicago, Illinois.
Barnes was also Deputy Chief of Police in Salisbury, North Carolina (2017-2020) and was a Captain with the Greensboro Police Department, where his law enforcement career began as a patrol officer in the fall of 2000. He has also been a council member on the National Police Institute’s Council on Policing Reforms and Race.
The former police chief has a B.A. in History/Pre-Law from Elizabeth City State University, in North Carolina and a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. He also has a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in Greensboro.
Barnes philosophy of policing is “Community policing should be neighborhood-oriented, community-focused (encompassing both businesses and residences), problem-oriented, and grounded in the most current empirical research available to swiftly reduce crime and enhance citizens’ satisfaction with police services,” as per the Seattle Police Department page.
Barnes reportedly earned $360,485 as the Seattle Police Department chief, as per PubliCola. While this information could not be independently verified, it would make Barnes’ net worth around $1 and 3 million. Notably, this is just an estimate and not indicative of the law enforcement veteran’s true net worth.
