Seattle Police Recruits: Forced to Be Props, but Refused to Be Puppets
During a recent press conference, the mayor attempted to deflect questions about new developments in a city scandal by rallying some police recruits. They didn't fall for it.
Bruce Harrell Sworn-in as Seattle's 54th Mayor, Photo: (Seattle City Council from Seattle, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0)
Former Seattle TV news broadcaster and current host of the [un]Divided podcast, Brandi Kruse, warned us on Facebook that this video of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is “cringe-worthy.” She was spot on. I almost felt bad for the guy—almost.
That said, if the source of the cringe isn’t your favorite politician on the planet, and he’s just made a fool of himself on video, then have at it and enjoy a bit of schadenfreude (my favorite German word).
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell recently deployed some Seattle Police Department (SPD) recruits as props during a press conference intended to celebrate the city’s police hiring efforts. Well, as Kruse points out, the city is down some 700 officers (half the department), so every recruit is desperately needed and appreciated.
However, Harrell has been a part of a Seattle government (as a city council member and mayor) since 2008, responsible for eviscerating the staffing (and morale) of a fine and once robust and effective police department with a stellar national reputation?
Intrepid journalist Jonathan Choe was on hand but rather than questions about the SPD recruits he asked the mayor about a new development regarding a scandal involving a former local TV news anchor, Jamie Tompkins and former SPD Police Chief Adrian Diaz.
Tompkins is now demanding $3 million from the city for being exposed to a “sexually hostile work environment.” She served as chief of staff under Diaz whom Harrell fired last December. Diaz reportedly created the position specifically for Tompkins, which paid about $180,000 per year.
Allegations have buzzed around the city since 2023, claiming Diaz and Tompkins were having a romantic affair, which both have denied, despite a “love letter” found by police investigators.
But it was Diaz who denied the allegations with a singular gusto, deciding that the moment the allegations landed was a good time to come out of the proverbial closet. After all, would a “gay Latino man,” as Diaz described himself to KTTH host Jason Rantz, have a romantic interest in a woman?
Tompkins claims that she was “falsely accused by SPD employees” of having an affair with Diaz. Choe asked Harrell how the city planned to respond to Tompkins’ allegations.
It seems like a reasonable question for a reporter to ask a mayor. But rather than answer, Harrell paused and then cartwheeled past the question, turning toward the recruits standing uncomfortably behind him, and said emphatically, “On this day, we are moving forward.”
And then came the cringiest moment when Harrell tried to prompt the SPD recruits to back him, saying, “You guys are with me, right?” The recruits didn’t fall for it and stood silently while mostly maintaining their stoic expressions.
Not done trying to rally the troops, Harrell swerved into some odd rhetoric, telling the recruits we were “taking the city back to a situation where the police are protecting people.” What the…? He helped create the staffing crisis and now wants to “lead” the troops “into battle” to solve the city government’s mess.
The next time you hear someone scolding the Democrats for creating crises to run on during elections this is what that looks like.
As Kruse noted, the city is down some 700 police officers—that’s half the department and a scandal in itself. And while the alleged Diaz-Tompkins tryst formed the backdrop, here, I wanted to emphasize those recruits positioned behind the mayor.
I commend those SPD recruits whom the mayor conscripted for that uncomfortable political setting. I doubt the new lawsuit took the mayor by surprise. However, while Harrell may have used those future officers as political props, I congratulate them on not allowing the mayor to use them as puppets.
