A beef jerky run and alleged romantic hire: Two investigations launched into former Seattle Chief Diaz

Seattle police watchdog agencies formally launched two investigations into former Police Chief Adrian Diaz in the days leading up to his demotion on May 29, records newly obtained by KUOW show.

The records shed light into what was happening behind the scenes before Mayor Bruce Harrell announced that Diaz would no longer be police chief — a role Diaz held since September 2020.

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The announcement came roughly a week after an eighth officer filed a lawsuit alleging discrimination and sexism at the police department. Four of these lawsuits named Diaz specifically. One female officer accused him of “predatory behavior.”

Diaz has repeatedly denied these allegations through his personal attorney Ted Buck.

“The reality is a modern big city chief will always be the target of disgruntled, dissatisfied claimants,” Buck said in a statement to KUOW in April.

Records show that on May 28, the day before Diaz stepped down, Lisa Judge, head of Seattle’s Office of Inspector General for Public Safety, notified the mayor that her office would be investigating Diaz for two complaints filed.

The first case, spurred by anonymous complaints filed in July 2023, involved allegations that Diaz hired a romantic partner for a high-level advisor role and failed to disclose their relationship, a violation of city policy. At the time, sources told KUOW the department was abuzz with hearsay about Diaz and his new hire. Diaz had dinner with the woman on multiple occasions, according to Buck, and he had been in her apartment, but they were just friends.

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Diaz has denied he had a relationship with the woman through Buck. Buck said the dinners occurred before the woman was hired and were professional. He said that Diaz visited her to help with a home project.

The second complaint said that Diaz used a police vehicle for personal trips, violating department regulations. The complainant said Diaz had his security detail drive him to Portland to catch a flight to a University of Washington Huskies game; another time, according to the complaint, Diaz had his detail drive on an out-of-town run to buy him beef jerky.

The Office of Inspector General contracted with Shayda Le of Barran Liebman LLP to investigate the allegations concerning Diaz, according to records.

Diaz did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Mayor Harrell also hired an outside firm, Marcella Fleming Reed of MFR Associates, to evaluate allegations, specifically the handling of gender discrimination and sexual harassment investigations at Seattle Police. This investigation remains ongoing.

Further complicating the investigations involving Diaz, several months before Diaz stepped down, he informed Mayor Harrell that he was gay, according to a mayor’s office spokesperson. Diaz came out publicly during an interview with KTTH/MyNorthwest in June.

“You know, it’s absurd, and I haven’t had the opportunity to be able to tell my story,” Diaz told KTTH’s Jason Rantz at the time. “It’s a story I’ve struggled with over the last four years that I’m a gay Latino man.”

Nonetheless, a mayor’s office spokesperson said investigations into Diaz would continue.

“The former chief’s sexual orientation played absolutely no role in the joint decision between the mayor and former Chief Diaz in stepping down,” spokesperson Jamie Housen wrote in an email in June.

Diaz remains employed by Seattle Police.