Chief Barnes, left, at a ceremony marking the promotion of Tietjen, right (Image: SPD)
Saying “community trust is built through transparency, not silence,” GSBA, the city’s LGBTQ+ chamber of commerce and a leading voice for many of Capitol Hill’s small businesses, has called on Chief Shon Barnes and the Seattle Police Department to address the recent promotion of a commander with a history of department violations to lead the East Precinct.
In a letter with the Lavender Rights Project, the organization has condemned the decision and is calling on SPD to provide “an update and timeline” for his replacement.
Barnes announced the promotion of Michael Tietjen to East Precinct Commander in September but said he would reverse the decision last month after a wave of backlash.
“GSBA, Washington State’s LGBTQ+ and Allied Chamber of Commerce and the Neighborhood Chamber for Capitol Hill, and Lavender Rights Project, are writing to express joint disappointment in the Seattle Police Department’s decision to appoint Captain Mike Tietjen to lead the East Precinct in Capitol Hill—a neighborhood that has long stood as the heart of Seattle’s LGBTQ+ community,” the letter begins. “This decision was made without meaningful community engagement or transparency, and it sends a troubling message to the residents and businesses of Capitol Hill.”
Publicola reported in October that, despite a history of department violations, Tietjen was selected to replace Doug Raguso, a acting commander who had been active in improving the precinct’s relationship with Capitol Hill’s LGBTQ and nightlife business communities.
In August 2020, CHS reported as one of the incidents was caught on video when an SPD sergeant was placed on administrative leave after being caught driving an SUV onto a sidewalk and nearly striking a group of protesters and comparing them to cockroaches.
Publicola reports Tietjen was reassigned to a new precinct after that incident and details another incident in which Tietjen was disciplined after “four officers, including him, pulled up on a trans woman who was walking along the sidewalk and allegedly harassed her by asking her if she ‘had a dick under’ her skirt.”
Responding to backlash last month, SPD provided a statement on the selection and reversal.
In the statement, Chief Barnes makes a pledge, promising “a full review of the person’s history” before future promotions.
The GSBA and the Lavender Rights Project are asking for more.
“Captain Tietjen’s record, which includes multiple sustained complaints for violent and discriminatory conduct—including the documented harassment of a transgender woman and acts of excessive force during the 2020 protests—stands in direct conflict with the values of safety, inclusion, and trust that our community expects from its public servants,” the letter reads. “At a time when rebuilding relationships between law enforcement and marginalized communities should be a top priority, this appointment undermines that progress. As instances of bias against the LGBTQ+ community increase, it is essential that SPD provides leadership that can be trusted. Otherwise, people will become reticent to report issues to SPD if there is fear that SPD could perpetuate that harm or elect not to go out at all. The chilling effect this could bring would threaten the area’s dense business ecosystem and erode community.
In the letter, the groups say they are are especially concerned by the decision in light of a change of personnel in SPD’s LGBTQ+ Liaison position and SPD’s lack of transparency about the process to fill the role with a new person.
“We call on Chief Barnes and the City of Seattle to engage directly with community stakeholders, including LGBTQ+ organizations, before making leadership decisions that so profoundly impact our neighborhood’s sense of safety and belonging,” the letter concludes as the groups are demanding an update and public timeline on the Tietjen situation.
The letter from GSBA leader Ilona Lohrey and JaeLynn Scott, the executive director of the Lavender Rights Project, is directed to Chief Barnes, and SPD’s chief operating officer Brian Maxey, and director Mike Fields.
The Lavender Rights Project is a Black trans feminist organization with projects including its community work at the newly opened King County Health Through Housing Capitol Hill apartment building Sharyn Grayson House.
The GSBA, meanwhile, is an advocate for businesses across the city and on Capitol Hill where it has received funding for programs including a Capitol Hill Neighborhood Safety Coordinator dedicated to tracking and coordinating responses to public safety issues around the Broadway and Pike/Pine core.
Mayor Bruce Harrell has not publicly addressed the situation but his challenger in Tuesday’s election Katie Wilson has also leveled criticism at SPD over the bungled promotion.
“Capt. Tietjen has a long record of actions that diminish public confidence in SPD. We cannot afford that, full stop,” Wilson said. “I want to give the new chief the benefit of the doubt, but this decision reflects either bad judgment or a lack of due diligence. Neither will be accepted when I’m mayor. Our communities deserve better and we can’t get this wrong.”
Changes around SPD precinct commanders have been handled at various levels of public transparency of the years as promotions, resignations, and retirements have played out. CHS reported a decade ago on the high — and often quiet — turnover leading the East Precinct where we tallied ten leaders over the previous 15 years at the 12th and Pine headquarters.
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