The Seattle Police Department’s new Chief Operating Officer Sarah Smith, will make almost $315,000 a year—about $12,000 more than her predecessor, Brian Maxey—despite having fewer responsibilities and significantly less experience in public safety or government employment.
Smith has been at the city since 2019. Most recently, she worked as Seattle Fire Department administrative staffer on loan to Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office.
Although Smith’s internal title in Harrell’s office was “Deputy Director of Public Safety,” her city job classification was Administrative Specialist III—”an advanced technical expert in the Administrative Support series,” according to the city’s job class description— and her salary was just under $90,000…