KUOW broke the news last week that four female officers are suing the Seattle Police Department, alleging sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. This week on Seattle Nice, we discuss the allegations against Police Chief Adrian Diaz and Sergeant John O’Neil, the head of SPD’s communications office. (PubliCola wrote about some of the allegations against O’Neil in February).
For months, evidence has been piling up that the city’s police department has a culture of casual misogyny and harassment; women in the department, including many who spoke out during focus groups, describing their own experiences being passed over for jobs, belittled, harassed, and bullied by male colleagues and supervisors. We debate whether the latest allegations are credible on their face (my view) or if we need to hear the police chief’s version of events and let due process take its course (as Sandeep argues.) David gets a couple of words in edgewise.
Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.