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Chief Best Announces Updates to SPD Leadership Team

As the Chief of Police of the Seattle Police Department, it is my responsibility to ensure the Department’s continued success, and advance a culture of continuous innovation and improvement with a shared commitment to service.

In supporting this vision, I am making the following Command Staff announcements:

Deputy Chief Marc Garth Green

With Deputy Chief Fowler’s forthcoming retirement, I am pleased to announce Assistant Chief Marc Garth Green will assume the role of Deputy Chief of Police, where he will oversee the Patrol Operations, Criminal Investigations and Homeland Security/Special Operations Bureau. Deputy Chief Garth Green is a proven leader, earning the respect of his peers and further enhancing relationships with our local, state and federal partners. Under his leadership as Assistant Chief of Investigations, he was instrumental in numerous multi-agency operations, taking guns, drugs and violent offenders off the streets.

Acting Asst. Chief of Investigations Deanna Nollette

Captain Deanna Nollette will assume the role of Acting Assistant Chief of Investigations. She has served with the Department for 22 years, most recently as Captain of the Violent Crimes Section, where she oversaw the largest joint drug takedown operation in department history. Assistant Chief Nollette was instrumental in launching the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) model here in Seattle. A national search will commence to permanently fill the position of Assistant Chief of Investigations.

Assistant Chief of Patrol Operations Steve Wilske has requested to move to the role of Night Duty Captain. He has served with the Seattle Police Department for more than 30 years, and has been instrumental in leading the backbone of our Department through all of the reforms under the consent decree. Assistant Chief Wilske has served the Department in a variety of positions and has helped launched such innovations as the Navigation Team. I have worked for and with him my entire career, and cannot thank him enough for his continued dedication to this department, our officers and our city.

Asst. Chief of Patrol Operations Eric Greening

Assistant Chief Eric Greening will assume the role of Assistant Chief of Patrol Operations. Assistant Chief Greening has served with the Department for nearly 24 years, most recently as Assistant Chief of the Homeland Security Bureau. During his career with the Department, Assistant Chief Greening has held various positions, including Traffic, Patrol and Investigations assignments, as well as Captain of our South Precinct, where he oversaw a 15% decrease in major crime, championed the Micro Community Policing Plan program within the Precinct and enhanced the trust and safety of the approximately 85,000 residents of southeast Seattle. He has also served as Incident Commander for a variety of high-profile events across the city.

Assistant Chief Perry Tarrant is retiring from the Department. I sincerely want to thank Assistant Chief Tarrant for his contributions to the Department over the past three and a half years, and wish him well in his future endeavors.

Acting Asst. Chief Steve Hirjak

To promote greater internal collaboration and business efficiency, the Special Operations Bureau and the Homeland Security Bureau will combine under Acting Assistant Chief Steve Hirjak. Assistant Chief Hirjak has served with our department for 25 years in a variety of roles, including Patrol Officer, Patrol Supervisor, Detective with the Domestic Violence Unit, an investigator with the Office of Professional Accountability, as the Equal Opportunity Employment Sergeant and Captain of the Force Investigations Team. In March of this year, he assumed the role of Captain of our Education and Training Section. A national search will commence to permanently fill the position of Assistant Chief of Homeland Security/Special Operations.

Asst. Chief for Collaborative Policing Adrian Diaz

Community outreach will continue to be the centerpiece of our work. To that end, I am pleased to announce that Lieutenant Adrian Diaz will be joining our Command Staff, serving as Assistant Chief for Collaborative Policing. For more than two decades, Assistant Chief Diaz has committed himself to building relationships across all of Seattle’s diverse communities, and has been an architect of several citywide youth violence prevention initiatives. In this role, he will continue to drive our prevention and intervention, restorative justice and community engagement initiatives, while ensuring that community outreach is at the heart of our culture.

Executive Director of Human Resources Mike Fields

Finally, I am pleased to announce Mike Fields’s promotion to Executive Director of Human Resources. Executive Director Fields will directly report to the Chief, and lead all human resource initiatives for the department, including recruiting/hiring, labor and employee relations, leadership development, performance management and EEO investigations, classification/compensation, as well as aligning strategic human resource efforts with the overall mission of the Department. Executive Director Fields has served as Human Resources Director since 2014.

These changes are effective immediately.

I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together, and I am excited about the future of our department. As we move ahead, we will continue to reduce crime and disorder; strive for Excellence in Service; serve with Honor and Professionalism; promote Business Efficiency; and enhance our Data Driven Policies and Practices.