As the city prepares itself to host six 2026 FIFA World Cup matches, Seattle Police Department (SPD) Chief Shon Barnes revealed that the department is retaining its staff better than it has in years.
“Where are you right now in the Seattle Police Department as far as stats and numbers of police officers?” KIRO host Gee Scott asked.
“We have 1,120 now on staff. We have 985 officers who are deployable, so that difference is officers who are either in some form of training or on sick leave in the academy, so once those officers are cleared, we’ll add them to that number, and there’ll be 1,120,” Barnes said. “We’ve hired 78 officers just this year alone, and the number of officers who are leaving is consistent with what we saw last year. So last year we saw a record low number of officers leaving at 34, and that’s where we are this year, a little bit up with 38 officers who have separated from the department. So we’re seeing fewer officers leaving over time, and more officers are coming in.”…