Seattle mayor fires former Police Chief Adrian Diaz, cites affair

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has officially fired former police chief Adrian Diaz, according to an email obtained Tuesday morning by KUOW.

In a letter to Seattle City Council, Harrell wrote that Diaz had "an intimate or romantic relationship" with a former employee, and that he had hired and directly supervised that employee. The letter also says that the employee wrote a handwritten card to Diaz "that indicates a romantic or intimate relationship took place." Diaz also talked to colleagues about "intimate interactions" with the employee.

Diaz’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment by publication time.

Diaz was demoted in May. In June, Diaz told KTTH’s Jason Rantz that he was "a gay Latino man." Diaz was placed on paid administrative leave in October.

Diaz hired the woman in May 2023, after rumors had started circulating about their relationship. Diaz vehemently denied the affair rumors to KUOW via his personal attorney Ted Buck.

“Are they romantic friends? No, they're not,” Buck said. “Has Adrian helped her put dimmer switches on some of her electrical outlets because that's what he does? Yeah, that's the kind of friendship they have.”

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Harrell told city council that the handwritten letter "discussed their intimacy." The letter was found in the car by a member of his protection team.

"A handwriting expert concluded that it was highly probable that the letter was written by the employee."

The employee was placed on leave in October at the same time as Diaz, after she provided a phony handwriting sample.

Harrell said Diaz broke police policies related to dishonesty, professionalism, avoiding and disclosing conflicts of interest, and improper personal relationships.

He said that an investigator found that Diaz had “openly discussed this sexual relationship with subordinate employees,” and “included crass and extremely personal statements” about the employee.

Interim Police Chief Sue Rahr emailed the police department saying the mayor notified the city council that he had terminated Diaz effective Tuesday.

“I’m not authorized to share any additional information at this time,” Rahr wrote.