Britt

Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes has named a new East Precinct Commander and appointed a new department LGBTQ+ liaison and is apologizing to the community and the organizations who called the new chief out over a bungled selection process.

CHS reported here on the joint letter from the GSBA chamber of commerce and the Lavender Rights Project criticizing Barnes and SPD leadership for its original selection of Michael Tietjen to lead the East Precinct and not being transparent with its efforts to fill the department’s open LGBTQ+ liaison position. “This decision was made without meaningful community engagement or transparency, and it sends a troubling message to the residents and businesses of Capitol Hill,” the groups said of the Tietjen selection.

Tietjen’s promotion came despite a history of department violations including a 2020 Capitol Hill incident caught on video when the SPD sergeant was placed on administrative leave after being caught driving an SUV onto a sidewalk and nearly striking a group of protesters and comparing them to cockroaches.

Publicola, which was first to report on the Tietjen promotion, detailed another incident in which Tietjen was disciplined after “four officers, including him, pulled up on a trans woman who was walking along the sidewalk and allegedly harassed her by asking her if she ‘had a dick under’ her skirt.”

In the letter, the groups said they were especially concerned by the Tietjen decision in light of a change of personnel in SPD’s LGBTQ+ Liaison position and SPD’s lack of transparency about the process to fill the role.

Thursday, Barnes addressed both issues, naming new East Precinct Capt. Jim Britt and announcing Officer Haden Barton as the department’s new LGBTQ+ liaison.

In the announcement, Barnes did not name Tietjen but apologized for his selection.

“I want to first acknowledge the concerns expressed by community members regarding the recent assignment of a precinct captain with a sustained professionalism finding in 2020,” Barnes said in the announcement.

The high-level announcement of Britt’s selection is unusual. Changes around SPD precinct commanders have been handled at various levels of public transparency over the years as promotions, resignations, and retirements have played out.

CHS reported a decade ago on the high — and often quiet — turnover leading the East Precinct where we tallied ten leaders over the previous 15 years at the 12th and Pine headquarters.

Barnes did not explain why he was not aware of Tietjen’s checkered history but said he “took immediate action” after learning about the issues “and initiated the transfer of the captain in question.”

“I also asked for a full review of our promotion process,” the Barnes announcement reads. “I take the concerns of our community seriously and apologize for the oversight. We are a learning and growing organization and take this feedback seriously.”

“I deeply value the partnership of the LGBTQ+ community and remain committed to transparency, respect, and a shared vision of safety for everyone in Seattle,” the chief said.

SPD’s Captain of Technology

According to SPD, Britt will take over at the East Precinct later this month. A 23-year department veteran, Britt has served as SPD’s Captain of Technology and Innovation and has lead SPD’s new Real Time Crime Center and camera system.

The SPD announcement says Britt will be “instrumental in advancing our shared mission of equitable, effective, and community-centered policing.”

The East Precinct is set for a $400,000 installation of new cameras around Pike/Pine and the Broadway core.

The Capitol Hill camera boundaries will cover the core of the Pike/Pine neighborhood along E Pike and E Pine between Broadway and 12th Ave with a mapped extension along Nagle Place and Broadway north of the core all the way to Denny/E Barbara Bailey Way and the southern edge of Capitol Hill Station and its Sound Transit security camera installations. The camera zone would stretch to the backside of Pike/Pine along E Union.

A similar $425,000 system is being installed in the Central District around the Garfield High School campus.

SPD’s current three-location RTCC system includes 57 cameras, the city says.

According to OpenOversight SPD records, Britt has been subject of five Office of Police Accountability investigations over his career — none are listed as sustained.

Barton has faced no complaints. The new LGBTQ+ liaison has worked as a patrol officer in the East Precinct since 2019.

“The East Precinct is my home. It is where I have been my entire career. I know this community and I am excited to be here,” Barton said in the announcement. Barton will also oversee the SPD Safe Place program, the “rainbow badge” program that provides bias crime and prevention information and training for venues.

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