Seattle mayor silent on police chief’s lucrative exit package

Although former Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes served only 18 months in office, he’s taking away a lucrative severance package worth around $700,000 as questions remain about his departure.The package is well in excess of his $370,000 yearly salary.
While the package was first disclosed Friday night, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s office has refused to offer specific details, including just exactly where in the city budget the money will come from and how the figure was calculated.
Wilson has also refused several times to disclose exactly why she asked for Barnes’ resignation.
As a new budget year approaches, Seattle is already facing a $175 million deficit, and city departments have been asked to propose personnel cuts.
Dawn Schellenberg, the mayor’s interim communications director, and Sage Wilson, the mayor’s chief spokesman, did not respond to emails Monday regarding Wilson’s decisions.
Barnes resigned last Thursday at the request of Wilson, who was upset with his performance in office, including how he handled communicating with the press and the public in the aftermath of a mass shooting at a food festival that left three people dead on July 26.
Barnes’ package includes a lump-sum payment equal to 18 months of his salary, which comes out to over $560,000.
Barnes was one of the highest-paid police chiefs in the U.S.
He will get a second lump sum equal to a year of COBRA coverage to continue his health insurance, worth about $30,000.
Additionally, Barnes doesn’t have to repay a $50,000 hiring bonus for officers, aimed to help recruitment efforts.
Normally, the money is paid back on a pro rata basis if an officer leaves before serving five years.
Barnes also doesn’t have to give back a $60,000 relocation benefit.
Barnes maintains an apartment in Seattle but had to defend himself last week against reports that he often left the city for conferences and to see his family, who remained in Chicago.
Records released by the Seattle Department to The Center Square show that Barnes was out of town nearly a dozen times over a four-month period this year, including four trips to Chicago and seven work-related conferences.
Members of the Seattle City Council had attacked Wilson last week for asking Barnes to resign, arguing that crime was down and that Barnes had been doing a good job.
Council members Monday, however, didn’t respond to requests for comment from The Center Square. A regularly scheduled council briefing, scheduled for Monday, when the issue could have come up, was canceled.
Barnes first started as police chief under the administration of former Mayor Bruce Harrell in January 2025.
Wilson beat Harrell by a narrow margin in November 2025. The next month, in December, before Wilson officially took office, she announced that Barnes would continue as police chief during her administration.
Wilson said that communications breakdowns that occurred after the shooting were unacceptable, blaming herself and the police chief.
Those breakdowns resulted in an approximate five-hour delay between a police department social media posting at 6:30 p.m. that a mass casualty event had occurred and a press conference held near 11 p.m.
Wilson also said during Friday’s press conference that she had “a window” into other issues at the police department but has refused to elaborate.
Barnes did not appear at the Sunday night press conference after the shooting because he was attending a law enforcement conference in Dallas.
His absence highlighted his frequent travel away from Seattle.
On Monday, during a second press conference, Barnes did appear but got into a shouting match with a reporter over how much time he spent in Seattle.

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