Sue Rahr discusses first days as SPD interim police chief

Sit down with interim SPD chief

FOX 13 sat down with interim Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr two days into her taking the position.

SEATTLE - Friday marked day two of Sue Rahr’s new job as Seattle's interim police chief. Earlier this week, Mayor Bruce Harrell re-assigned former chief Adrian Diaz to work on 'special projects.'

As Rahr takes over, there are a lot of questions, from how she feels about her role to whether there's time to make changes while she's in the driver's seat.

During a sit-down interview, she admitted she doesn’t have a lot of time, but looks forward to planting the seeds of change.

"It’s been surprisingly invigorating," Rahr said while sitting in her new office. "I was expecting it was going to be a lot harder because I know there’s a lot of challenges and a lot of turmoil. When I stepped into my first command staff meeting yesterday, I was blown away by how tight-knit the group is. They’re excited to get past all the distractions that are going on."

Rahr was chosen as Diaz’s replacement after he was removed Wednesday.

As she takes over, she faces the challenges of cleaning up a department strained by legal claims against Diaz and members of his command staff. As FOX 13 has previously reported, allegations surfaced after multiple officers came forward, alleging sexual harassment, retaliation, and gender discrimination under Diaz.

Rahr, who is a former King County Sheriff, came out of retirement after receiving a call from the city. Now, she’s tasked with filling police officer vacancies. Staffing at SPD is currently at its lowest level in 30 years.

Rahr told FOX 13 that recruitment is at the top of her list.

"My number one priority is staffing. We have to get inside the heads of people who are coming into policing," she said. "We need to recognize this is very competitive right now. So, we’re going to tighten up our processes, streamline them and get a bigger pool of candidates."

Rahr has her work cut out for her, not just because of the legal actions against her predecessor, but she’ll also be contending with fallout from controversies that date back to police chief Carmen Best, COVID, the CHOP protests and the defund the police movement.

There’s also the city’s spike in gun violence, with data showing shots fired being up more than 20 percent. Add on top of that a juvenile crime wave in King County.

Rahr said focusing on community relations could help address some of those issues.

"Building trust with a community is literally a face-to-face, person-to-person effort," she said. "I’m going to get out and meet as many community members as I can. Again, I’m going to ask them what can we do to better serve them. How can we connect with them?

Rarh admits six months is not a lot of time to implement full change.

"I’m not going to reduce crime rates," she said. "That an undertaking we all have to work on."

Still, she said she plans to lay the groundwork needed to reshape SPD and better Seattle by the time a new permanent police chief is chosen.

"There’s a lot of good work being done and there are places where it’s not working so well," she said. "Having the opportunity to come in and try and help improve that, that’s a real attractive opportunity."