Mayor Harrell Fires Former Police Chief Diaz
Harrell said Diaz repeatedly made "false statements" about an "intimate relationship" with a top staffer to members of the media, to SPD's command staff, and to Harrell himself.
By Erica C. Barnett
Mayor Bruce Harrell has fired former Seattle police chief Adrian Diaz, citing a recently completed investigation by the city's Office of Inspector General that found Diaz violated SPD policies by having an "improper... intimate relationship" with his chief of staff, Jamie Tompkins, lying about it, promoting Tompkins to a command staff position, and failing to disclose the relationship.
Harrell removed Diaz as police chief in May, but has remained on the city's payroll; as of September, a database maintained by the city listed his salary as $338,560 a year.
Altogether, Harrell wrote in a letter he sent city officials on Tuesday morning, OIG found Diaz violated SPD policies on dishonesty, professionalism, avoiding or disclosing conflicts of interest, and improper personal relationships.
"Diaz made numerous statements denying that he engaged in an intimate or romantic relationship with [Tompkins]," Harrell wrote. "These statements were public statements and statements to the Mayor’s Office and SPD colleagues. Relying on the factual findings in the Report, these statements were false."
Interim police chief sue Rahr identified Tompkins as the person at the center of the affair allegations when she placed both Diaz and Tompkins on leave in October.
Four female SPD employees sued the city and Diaz earlier this year for, among other allegations, sexual harassment and a hostile work environment.
In June, Diaz announced to right-wing talk show Jason Rantz that he was gay, and called the allegations that he had an affair with a woman "absurd." Diaz also said that, as "a gay Latino man," he was unlikely to sexually harass women or behave inappropriately toward them. In his writeup of the interview, Rantz said Diaz had been "hound[ed]" by allegations that were "unsubstantiated."
Diaz later threatened to sue PubliCola for libel after we reported on his interview and mentioned KUOW's reporting on his rumored affair. "The rumor you mention is false and we’re sure you’re aware of evidence showing it," Diaz' lawyers wrote, citing Diaz' own denials and story in the Stranger that said an SPD employee, Durand Dave, had "confesse[d] to inventing" the story himself." Dace was fired for his role in spreading the rumor; he has since told KUOW he was merely repeating a story that was circulating in the department.
"Despite all that evidence, and in contravention of your journalistic obligations,5 you elected to inject the false rumor into your post," the letter continued. "We’re confident that’s enough to convince a jury, not just that the rumor’s false, but that you spread it knowing of its probable falsity." (The citation linked to a journalism textbook.)
Harrell's letter says Diaz repeatedly made "false statements" to members of the media, to SPD's command staff, and to Harrell himself.
Diaz has also filed a $10 million claim against the city, saying he faced anti-gay discrimination after he went on Rantz' show to announce he was gay.
According to Harrell's letter, the investigation substantiated three allegations:
(1) Diaz had an intimate or romantic relationship with a former SPD employee...
(2) Diaz hired and then directly supervised [Tompkins];
(3) [Tompkins] wrote a handwritten card to Diaz that indicates a romantic or intimate relationship took place between Diaz and [Tompkins].
The card, which featured Disney characters, was found in Diaz' car. Investigators took a handwriting sample from Tompkins to compare it to the writing on the card and concluded that it was most likely her handwriting. Tompkins resigned in November after OIG alleged she had lied to investigators and falsified a handwriting sample taken as part of the investigation.
"This type of decision is not made lightly. It is based on a comprehensive investigation that provided factual findings that suggest Diaz acted inconsistently with Seattle Police Department (“SPD”) policies," Harrell wrote.
“Based on the findings from the Office of Inspector General’s report, I made the decision to remove Adrian Diaz from the Seattle Police Department," Harrell said in a statement. "While they take time, this is why we do investigations that are robust and thorough and why we use facts to support decisions that are aligned with the values of our city."
OIG's investigation concluded that Diaz had described his relationship to two witnesses—a lieutenant and a member of his security team—and that "while having an intimate or romantic relationship with [Tompkins], Diaz appointed [Tompkins] to a position that did not exist at the time and had not formally existed for quite some time."
The investigation also found that Diaz "deviated from normal procedure" by having his own security guard do Tompkins' background check, rather than going through SPD's backgrounding unit. A lieutenant who said he advised Diaz against this told investigators that "Diaz may have been trying to keep the information about Diaz’s romantic or intimate relationship within a “tight circle,'" according to Harrell's letter.
This is a developing story and will be updated on PubliCola.com.
This is a sad story. A person in a position of such trust and authority behaving like this is awful. That a person like this could rise to such a position is an indictment of the system that allowed it. And an indictment of the judgement of the mayor to appoint this person and then so staunchly support him for so long. This has cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and further tarnishing the reputation of the police department.
It does vindicate you, at least, and highlights the importance of what you do and how you do it. Speaking truth to power is hard and often thankless. But many of us appreciate you.