MEET THE SPD 20/20 TEAM
Message from Chief of Police John Diaz
The Seattle Police Department has 20 months to achieve 20 initiatives, comprised of 120 milestones. Getting this much change done in such a relatively short span requires committing some of the best people in our department to this project—people who have proven they can get things done.
We are dedicating an unprecedented number of resources—32 sergeants, lieutenants, and captains—from across the department to implement the SPD 20/20 Vision plan. I have assigned 20 of these department supervisors to manage each initiative, and tasked four commanders with overseeing the four major categories of reform in the 20/20 Vision plan: Leadership, Operations, Community Relations, and Values.
Additionally, we have an executive group assigned to manage the day-to-day progress of the 20/20 plan, as well as group of advisors helping to develop new standards for how we train our officers. An administrative group will also oversee the financial, technological and data-related aspects of the 20/20 plan.
Along with fighting crime and keeping our city safe, the full and successful implementation of the 20/20 plan is a top priority for the department, and we have dedicated a strong group of proven leaders to help our department provide our city with the world-class public service and security you all deserve.
I’ve told my team: “Twenty months from now I need these things done.” They are ready to lead and implement this plan, and I will continue to keep you updated on our progress over the next 20 months at www.seattle.gov/SPD2020.
—Chief of Police John Diaz
Mike Sanford serves as the Assistant Chief of Police of the Seattle Police Department.
As Assistant Chief, I supervise the Seattle Police Department's Patrol Operations Bureau, overseeing the approximately 600 uniformed officers and five precincts that make up the largest division of SPD.
I followed my father, Sgt. Joseph Sanford, into public service with the Seattle Police Department, where I have served for the last 28 years.
In my time at SPD, I've worked to keep our city's streets safe as a patrol officer and front-line supervisor in the South, West, and East Precincts, SWAT and as a Commander of the West Precinct, Metro Unit and Homeland Security. I've seen how new officers are developed in the Basic Training Unit; helped reform and maintain department policies in the Audits and Procedures unit, and overseen the management of the department's vast wealth of information and data as the Commander of the Records Section.
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As the Deputy Executive for the 20/20 Team, I am responsible for taking the 20/20 Initiatives and coordinate the implementation of each into an operational policy.
20 years as a Seattle Police Officer provided an experience to work patrol in many neighborhoods throughout the City. The SWAT Team, Narcotics unit, and Investigations allowed me to gain a greater knowledge in many different disciplines which is proving invaluable in my current assignment.
I am a native of the Seattle area and remember working at the Pike Place market in high school. What a context to learn about Seattle’s vibrant and rich heritage. The National Guard, in which I continue to serve, also provides me with an understanding of other cultures both nationally and internationally.
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- Acting Sergeant Christi Robbin
- Officer Eric Pisconski
- Officer Ryan Lancaster
- Officer Martin Welte
- #15 Major Cities Consortium - Deputy Chief Clark Kimerer
- Standards - OPA Director Kathryn Olson
- Training - Capt. Mike Edwards
- Finance - Supervisor Don Berard
- Records/Data - Mngr. Alyne Hansen
- Information Technology - Mngr. Mark Knutson
I moved to the greater Seattle area in1976. I have been with the Seattle Police Department for 24 years and I am currently assigned to the Audit, Policy and Research Unit.West Precinct’s Anti Crime Team, followed by an assignment to the Traffic Section working both motorcycles and a car.
I have been fortunate in my 24 years to serve as an officer, first line supervisor, and commander in various units within the department. These assignments have provided me with experience in both the operations as well as the administrative sides of the department. My career began at the South Precinct in patrol, with a subsequent assignment to the South Precinct Anti Crime Team. I transferred to the West Precinct’s Anti Crime Team, followed by an assignment to the Traffic Section working both motorcycles and a car.
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As the Homicide and Crime Scene Investigations commander, I supervise the 3 squads of Homicide Detectives, as well as the Crime Scene Investigations unit.
In my 25 years on SPD, I have worked patrol and mounted patrol as an officer and supervisor, and had the opportunity to command a patrol watch in the West precinct from 2000-2004. After this I had the honor of being allowed to command the SWAT/HNT unit for 5 years, followed by command of the Robbery/Gang Unit. In late 2009 I was selected to my current command, the Homicide/CSI unit.
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Sgt. Brooks was born and raised in the city of Seattle. He went to high school in north Seattle, graduated from the University of Washington and graduated from what is now Seattle University School of Law. Sgt. Brooks joined the Seattle Police Department in 1992 after short period of time working in the private sector. As a patrol officer he worked the East Precinct, South Precinct and North Precinct. He also was assigned to the Seattle Police SWAT team from 2000-2005. Promoted in 2009 he supervised a patrol squad and was transferred to supervise the South Precinct Anti Crime Team. Over his career Sgt. Brooks has been heavily involved in officer training serving as field training officer and is currently a Tactics Training Lead for officer in service training. In January 2013 Sgt. Brooks was transferred to the Education and Training Section to supervise officers tasked with providing in service officer training.
As a Sergeant in the Education and Training Section, I supervise instructors responsible for research and development of curricula, and providing instruction in Post Academy Transitional Training, Field Training, Defensive Tactics, Online Learning, and Digital In-Car Camera use.
I have been with the Seattle Police Department for 22 years, and have worked assignments as a patrol officer and supervisor in the East, North, and West Precincts. I have also held positions, and served as an instructor, in the Mounted Patrol Unit and Traffic Enforcement Unit.
I hold a Bachelors Degree in Business, with a minor in Psychology from Regis University, and grew up in Seattle’s Capitol Hill and Columbia City neighborhoods.
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I have been with the Seattle Police Department since 1994 and am currently a patrol sergeant assigned to North Precinct where I supervise 1st Watch patrol officers working predominantly in the Lake City, Wedgwood, Laurelhurst, and Sandpoint neighborhoods.
Prior to being promoted, I spent over 10 years as a staff instructor in the Advanced Training Unit where my responsibilities included researching police training and practices, developing curriculum, and providing instruction to officers in in-service and post-basic academy training. Among the many topics that I have taught are criminal procedures, communications, tactics, and the use of force.
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I have been a police officer for more than twenty-one years for two different departments. I started my career with the Auburn Police Department and moved to the Seattle Police Department in 1999. Since 2009, I have worked in the advanced training unit of the Seattle Police Department, and currently supervise a squad of instructors for SPD.
During my career, I have been very fortunate to have opportunities to work in different assignments and to develop expertise in law enforcement training. One of my favorite assignments was working in the SPD’s East Precinct where, I was a patrol officer, bicycle patrol officer and a member of the Anti-Crime Team.
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I am currently one of two Operations Lieutenants for the West Precinct. My responsibilities include working closely with the mayor’s office, other city departments, and downtown stakeholders to create a safer, more vibrant downtown. I also am responsible for developing and implementing evidence-based strategies for deploying officers to fight crime throughout the city. I have worked for the Seattle Police Department for over 20 years. In my time at SPD, I’ve worked as a patrol officer, bicycle officer, and first-line supervisor in the West, and East Precincts, SWAT, Homeland Security and as a Watch commander in the West and East Precincts.
I strongly believe there is better way to deploy and utilize our patrol officers in a more efficient and effective manner to better serve the citizens of Seattle. I will help the SPD 20/20 leadership team develop the process for moving our department in that direction.
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In my 25 years with SPD, I’ve worked a variety of units and assignments; patrol in cars, bikes and foot beat, the West Precinct Community Police Team, Crime Analysis Unit, The Investigation Procedures Committee and I am newly assigned to the 20/20 Executive Planning Group. I have worked in our Seattle Police Operations Center, undercover and other specialized enforcement tasks.
While in the Investigation Procedures Unit, I worked closely with the Law Department, Jail, Youth Services Center, Community and Department to come up with innovative solutions to problems facing the department. I used these conversations, ideas and research to develop training curriculum, policy and procedure in order to strengthen the department and the community.
I am an active Public Safety Board Member at Seattle University. I am published in the Crime Mapping Case Studies Book and have received Seattle Police Department awards for Community Police Team Officer of the Year and Excellence. Because of my developed expertise in Crime Analysis, IT integration of systems and managing projects across our department and other agencies I was asked to become part of the 20/20 project. This assignment is an honor and I am excited to be part of the future of the Seattle Police Department.
In my 20 years with the Seattle Police Department, I have gotten to know many wonderful people and had a broad range of experiences and assignments within SPD.
I have worked in uniformed patrol, school safety, department spokeswomen, patrol supervisor, media relations supervisor, watch commander, operations lieutenant, narcotics proactive commander, robbery/gangs/fugitive commander. Currently I am the Acting Captain in the Community Outreach unit. In that assignment, I am responsible for overseeing personnel assigned to community outreach, , youth outreach, school emphasis, media response, the citizen’s police academy, crime stoppers and demographic advisory councils.
I am a Pacific Northwest native with five generations of my family in the area. I have two daughters, both of whom attended high school in Seattle.
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I joined the Seattle Police Department in 1985, and began working as a patrol officer in the South Precinct.
In my time with the department, I have been a detective in the Vice Unit, working in Internal Investigations, the Traffic Enforcement Section, and commanded the Vice/Organized Crime Unit during the investigation of the Colacurcio crime organization.
In December 2010, I returned to the place where I first began my career with SPD, as the commander of the South Precinct.
I was born and raised in the Seattle area and graduated from Washington State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice, and graduated from the West Point Leadership Training Program.
I am assigned as a Patrol Sergeant in the West Precinct. My prior assignments include patrol work in the East and North Precincts and Academy Instructor at both the Washington State Basic Law Enforcement Academy and the Seattle-King County Regional Law Enforcement Academy. I have worked as a detective in the Special Assault Unit, Background Investigations and Burglary/Theft West. My prior supervisory assignments include Southwest Precinct Patrol, Communications and the Mounted Patrol Unit.
I moved to the Seattle area from Utah in 1983 to attend the University of Washington, where I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Society and Justice. I received a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Seattle University in June, 2012.
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I am a lieutenant, currently assigned to the Education and Training Section. I have worked for the Police Department for 22 years. I have worked in all 5 precincts, and served as a detective for 5 years.
As the Sergeant and Public Affairs Director for the Seattle Police Department, I supervise a team of public information and digital communications specialists dedicated to sharing crime news and public safety information with the public. Our workday consists of updating the SPD Blotter, managing SPD's Facebook account and Twitter page, @SeattlePD, and tracking down information for journalists and giving interviews for their stories.
In my seventeen years with the department, I’ve worked with chemically dependent people in King County Drug Court, served as a patrol supervisor at the West Precinct, and represented SPD as a panelist and presenter at the International Association of Chief's of Police conference and Major Cities Chiefs Association workshops. I’ve also patrolled North Seattle on a bike, in a car, and on foot, and have a special connection to the Greenlake neighborhood.
My dad grew up in Greenlake, and it was also the first area I patrolled after I graduated from the police academy. I lived in the neighborhood for over a decade, and even proposed to my wife, at the Greenlake branch of the Seattle Public Library.
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In my 28 years of service in the Seattle Police Department, I’ve had the responsibility of managing hundreds of officers from various areas of our department.
I am one of a great many officers that was recruited from the community from which I resided. I proudly come from a long list of friends and relatives whom have served the Seattle Police Department with pride and dedication.
In my years of service, I’ve worked as a patrol officer, detective, first line supervisor and mid level manager in the West, South, Southwest and East Precincts, Narcotics, Gang Unit, Felony Fugitive Unit, Office of Professional Accountability, and Traffic Enforcement Unit.
My formal field of study is in Mechanical Engineering Technology, and have attended the West Point Leadership College, and Police Administrations Courses at the University of Washington.
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I am currently assigned to the DUI Squad, which consists of five Officers. Our primary function is to detect and remove DUI violators from the road prior to a collision.
I have 31 years in law enforcement, 29 of which are with the Seattle Police Department. I have been assigned to Patrol, DUI Squad Traffic, School Safety Unit, Special Activities Section and Internal Investigations.
I graduated from O’Dea High School in Seattle and hold an Associates Degree from Bellevue Community College.
I am the Director of the Communications Section and manage the one hundred and eighteen call-takers, dispatchers, supervisors, police communications analysts, and officers in the Seattle Police 911 Communications Center.
I grew up in northeast Seattle and have been a life-long Seattle area resident, and joined the Seattle Police Department in 1981. Since joining SPD, I have worked as a patrol officer and Traffic motorcycle officer in all of the precinct areas. I have also supervised patrol officers downtown and in the North Precinct, and served as a Watch Commander in the South, and West Precincts, and an Operations Lieutenant in the East and West Precincts.
I have also served as a basic Academy Instructor for our new officers, and as a Sergeant in the Office of Professional Accountability, (OPA).
I hold an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Shoreline Community College, and a Bachelors Degree in Society and Justice from Central Washington University. I am a graduate of the IACP Leadership in Police Organizations Course.
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As the Operations Lieutenant at the East Precinct, I am responsible for the supervision, administration, and performance of our Community Police Team.
I started my career with SPD in 1991. I worked as a patrol officer, school resource officer, and on mountain bikes in the North Precinct before being promoted to sergeant in 1998. As a sergeant, I supervised patrol officers in the North and East Precincts, the East Precinct Anti-Crime Team, and SWAT. I also worked in the Office of Professional Accountability. I was promoted to lieutenant in 2009 and assigned to the North Precinct before moving into my current assignment.
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I began my career with the Seattle Police Department in 1981, and have since worked in all five precincts as an officer, and as a member of the Inspections and Planning and Advanced Training Units. I’ve supervised Anti-Crime Team and Community Police Teams, served as an operations lieutenant, and commanded the Deployment Unit, Traffic, Metro, Vice and Narcotics sections of the department, as well as the Southwest and West Precincts.
I was born and raised in Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Society and Justice, and also graduated from the Senior Management Institute for Policing at Boston University and the West Point Leadership Program.
Since joining the Department, I’ve served in patrol as an officer, sergeant, watch commander and precinct operations lieutenant. I’ve also been an FTO and precinct FTO supervisor, and served in an ACT team. Outside of patrol I’ve been a detective in burglary and on the bomb squad, in OPA as a sergeant assigned to investigations, and presently as a Lieutenant in the Professional Standards Bureau working on settlement agreement related matters.
Other work experience includes time as a consultant in the enterprise risk services section of a worldwide accounting and consulting company, and as a prosecutor in an Eastern Washington prosecutor’s office handling criminal trials and appeals.
As Interim Human Resources Director, I am responsible for a wide range of areas affecting SPD’s work force. My responsibilities include recruiting, background investigations, hiring, benefits, payroll, early interventions, working with injured and ill employees, labor relations, and a myriad of other issues involving department personnel.
Before I came to Human Resources, I worked for over six years as a patrol sergeant in West Seattle, and I also worked for several years in SPD’s Internal Investigations unit. I grew up in the Seattle area, and graduated from the University of Washington with Bachelor’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. I then earned a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, and worked in the computer engineering field for six years before joining the Seattle Police Department.
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I am currently assigned to the Traffic Enforcement Unit, where I oversee several squads of traffic officers, the DUI Squad, the Aggressive Driving Response Team and the newly created Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Squad. The Traffic Enforcement Unit also includes the detectives of the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad and officers in the Red Light Camera Project.
During my 32 years on the department, I’ve worked as a patrol officer in the West Precinct and as a patrol supervisor and Watch Commander in the East Precinct. I also investigated allegations of child abuse and adult sex crimes as a detective in the Special Assault Unit. My assignments as a lieutenant have taken me from the floor of the 911 dispatch center in the Communications Unit, to the firing line at the Training Unit’s shooting range. I’ve also benefited from a tour of duty in the Office of Professional Accountability – Investigations Section (OPA-IS) overseeing investigations of complaints of police misconduct.
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I’ve proudly worn the Seattle Police Department badge since I was hired over 23 years ago. Currently, I am a watch commander at the North Precinct where I oversee the day to day operations for 3rd watch. In my career with the Department I’ve had the opportunity to serve in a variety of assignments including patrol, bikes, the Community Police Team, the Investigations Bureau, the Domestic Violence unit, the Office of Professional Accountability, the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad, and the Investigations Procedures Unit. I have also participated in the Collision Review Board, the Digital Evidence Management System, as well as the promotional exam development process.
I have lived in Seattle my entire adult life and attended school at the University of Washington and graduated from Seattle University.
As an SPD lieutenant and a resident of Seattle, I bring a commitment to excellence and dedication to the communities I serve both inside and outside the Department.
I am currently assigned as the night watch commander in the East Precinct, and oversee four patrol squads and one proactive team. This provides a firsthand view of the challenges and rewards for officers on the front line.
At age 19, I rode with a police officer for the first time. I was so impressed and listened intently as he explained his duties. Over the next few months I talked with many officers and soon after charted my course in this profession.
I was pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree at Portland State University when I received the call to be a Seattle Police Officer. After 26 years, I still believe it is one of the best decisions I have ever made.
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I’m in my 34th year of service with the Seattle Police Department and have had a variety of assignments. I am currently assigned to the ICAC Task Force and Missing Person Unit. Prior to this, I supervised the Violent Crimes Section, Training Section, West Precinct, and Special Deployment Section. I was born, raised, and live in Seattle.