Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Former Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr is sharply criticizing the city’s response following the shooting at the Bite of Seattle, saying the five-hour delay before a public briefing damaged trust and left people unnecessarily fearful.
“I just can’t imagine not doing a public safety briefing in that first hour,” said Rahr in an interview with KOMO News Senior Reporter Chris Daniels about the response, and the fallout from the incident. "That was a big communications failure. Who holds the blame for that? I don't know. I suspect there are multiple people that dropped the ball."
Rahr previously served as King County Sheriff between 2005 and 2012 before leaving to run the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission and Academy for nearly a decade. She then served as Seattle’s Interim Police Chief for close to eight months following the departure of Chief Adrian Diaz.
In this KOMO News interview, she also said it will now be hard to find a qualified candidate from outside the city to take the role of SPD’s top cop.
Watch the full interview: bit.ly/4xOqffZ
Former Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr is sharply criticizing the city’s response following the shooting at the Bite of Seattle, saying the five-hour delay before a public briefing damaged trust and left people unnecessarily fearful.
“I just can’t imagine not doing a public safety briefing in that first hour,” said Rahr in an interview with KOMO News Senior Reporter Chris Daniels about the response, and the fallout from the incident. "That was a big communications failure. Who holds the blame for that? I don't know. I suspect there are multiple people that dropped the ball."
Rahr previously served as King County Sheriff between 2005 and 2012 before leaving to run the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission and Academy for nearly a decade. She then served as Seattle’s Interim Police Chief for close to eight months following the departure of Chief Adrian Diaz.
In this KOMO News interview, she also said it will now be hard to find a qualified candidate from outside the city to take the role of SPD’s top cop.
Watch the full interview: bit.ly/4xOqffZ
