SPD Chief Adrian Diaz — fired after OIG investigation found dishonesty, undisclosed relationship, hiring violations

Seattle Police Department (SPD) Chief Adrian Diaz was fired in December 2024 after an Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation found he had hired a romantic partner as his chief of staff, bypassed the department’s background check process, and lied to investigators — all while collecting his $338,000 salary in a “special projects” role for seven months after his demotion.

What happened

In May 2024, Mayor Bruce Harrell removed Adrian Diaz as Seattle Police Department (SPD) Chief amid mounting reports of harassment, retaliation, and management dysfunction. Rather than being terminated, Diaz was moved to a “special projects” role and retained his $338,000 annual chief salary.

On December 17, 2024, following an Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation, Harrell terminated Diaz.

What the investigation found:

• Diaz created a chief-of-staff position for Jamie Tompkins, a woman with whom he was in a romantic relationship
• He circumvented the department’s standard background-check process by having a member of his executive protection unit run Tompkins’ personnel check instead
• He repeatedly denied the relationship to colleagues and to investigators
• Tompkins was separately found to have lied to investigators and to have disguised her handwriting on a birthday card to Diaz that was recovered from an SPD patrol vehicle

What the primary source says

The OIG Findings Letter (Case 2023OIG-0286, December 17, 2024) documents that Diaz violated SPD policies on dishonesty, professionalism, conflict-of-interest disclosure, and improper personal relationships. Tompkins resigned November 8, 2024. PubliCola subsequently reported Diaz was being placed on the national “Brady List” of officers with credibility issues.

Status

Diaz was terminated December 17, 2024. He had filed a $10 million wrongful-termination tort claim against the City two weeks before being fired. Tompkins resigned. No criminal charges have been filed against either party.

Why it’s in the registry

The OIG worked: it investigated and produced a documented finding that led to termination. The structural concern here is the seven-month gap between demotion and firing, during which Diaz drew his full $338,000 chief salary in a “special projects” role. There was no defined timeline or council notification requirement for how long a department head can remain on the city payroll after being removed from their role pending investigation.

Reform implication

The OIG’s functioning here is an argument for creating equivalent independent oversight at the King County level. The specific structural gap — no defined timeline or council oversight for senior employees on administrative leave pending misconduct findings — is addressable through council-level personnel oversight rules. See [reform: personnel_oversight] and [reform: independent_inspector_general].