Seattle council members call for action after another controversial police recording

Seattle City Councilmembers are calling for the Seattle Police Department to take action after another officer was allegedly caught on a recording using derogatory and offensive language.

The latest call for action comes from Councilmember Lisa Herbold, chair of the Public Safety and Human Services Committee.

“This act of anti-Asian hate from a Seattle officer is disgusting and undermines the Seattle Police Department’s ability to provide basic public safety," Herbold said in a statement Saturday. "How can our APIDA communities feel safe calling the police?"

She's in agreement, she said, with calls made by the Seattle Community Police Commission and other council members for Police Chief Adrian Diaz to develop an action plan to target issues of racism within the department.

Councilmember Tammy Morales said there needs to be a focus on accountability at the police department.

"How can SPD expect the public to trust them while it remains silent as these incidents happen? What does SPD leadership plan to do to regain control of the department, address its toxic culture, and rebuild this complete breaking of trust?" Morales said in a statement.

"The reality is that no other city employee would be excused from this behavior, where they can laugh and joke about killing somebody, spit racist slurs, and continue taking home a six-figure paycheck."

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The statement came within hours after The Stranger published a report Friday about an ongoing dispute between a Seattle police officer and his Kenmore neighbors. The Stranger published audio from one interaction in 2022. In it, Officer Burton Hill can allegedly be heard using sexist language and a racial slur when addressing his Chinese-American neighbor. A complaint has been filed with Seattle's Office of Police Accountability.

According to Morales, Hill has had four complaints of bias policing while with SPD. She is demanding a "plan of action" from the Seattle Police Department in response to the news coverage.

Also within hours of report, Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz published his own response to the news, confirming that a bias/hate complaint has been sent to the Office of Police Accountability. Diaz said he has placed Officer Hill on administrative leave.

"Although I will ultimately defer, as I am required, to the outcome of OPA’s investigation, racist language is completely unacceptable and is inconsistent with the high standards the department sets for its employees," Diaz said in his statement. "While I’m grateful the complaint was filed with OPA, not knowing about this for one year causes me concern. For this reason, I have instructed my staff to review this officer’s arrest and investigation history."

"As I have said from the beginning of my tenure as Chief of Police, racist comments and behavior by department employees will not be tolerated."

Chief Diaz also apologized to the neighbor and the community for the incident, and added that there is "more work to do to build trust between the department and the people we serve.”

This latest incident comes just 11 days after another recording was released, which captured the two highest-ranking members of the Seattle Police Officers Guild laughing and joking after a woman was struck and killed by a speeding patrol car. That video prompted widespread outrage.

In July, another police bodycam video was showed a Trump flag and a fake tombstone with the name of a young man who was shot and killed by Seattle police in an officers' breakroom. The video raised questions about the culture within the city's police department.

“This continued erosion of public trust is a public safety issue," Morales said Friday.

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