Seattle mayor hires new adviser on police reform

SEATTLE — Seattle is in the final stages of police reform, but a federal judge will keep watching its progress.

And now Mayor Jenny Durkan has hired, former Pittsburg police Chief Cameron McLay to help advise her.

McLay will consult on police reform, be paid $180,000 a year and report to the mayor and police chief.

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​We brought up the unusual arrangement when we sat down with Durkan and new Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best.

Asked about criticism that she made the historic hire of a black woman police chief, but then also hired a white male “minder,” the mayor responded, “We, hired him together. Mr. McLay reports to the chief and me. She's the chief of police. She's the person in charge of reforms of this department and he's going to be sure that we have one point of contact to move all those bodies forward.

Best added, “I don't want to let anything get in the way of keeping this department moving forward with continuous improvement and innovation and I look forward to working with him to keep things going.”

The mayor and chief are defending the new contract with the Seattle Police Guild against critics that say it rolls back hard-won police reforms.

“I've been involved in police reform for decades,” Durkan responded. “There's no chief in the city's history that's been more connected to the community and cares more about community than Carmen Best. There's no way that either one of us would agree to a contract to roll back reforms.”

Cox Media Group