Andre Sayles, the man now running the Seattle Police Department, stood at a City Hall podium Friday morning facing a city mourning three people killed Sunday at Seattle Center and navigating a police leadership vacuum since Chief Shon Barnes resigned Thursday.

Mayor Katie Wilson formally introduced Sayles as interim chief at an 11 a.m. press conference on Friday, July 31.

The event marked the first public appearance of SPD's new leader since Barnes resigned July 30, over the department's botched communication response to the Bite of Seattle mass shooting that killed three and wounded at least four others, including a 2-year-old boy, at Seattle Center on July 26.

For residents in Queen Anne, Lower Queen Anne, and Magnolia who live within blocks of the shooting site, the leadership vacuum is not abstract.

District 7 Councilmember Bob Kettle, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, told KOMO on Tuesday, July 28, that "there was no good answer for the lack of communication" after the shooting.

Who is Andre Sayles?

Sayles joined SPD in 2025 as Deputy Chief of Administration and Investigations, a hire made by Barnes himself. Before Seattle, he spent more than 20 years with the Beloit Police Department in Wisconsin, rising to chief in 2021. Under his leadership there, gunshot victims dropped 81% and open-air shootings fell 80% between 2021 and 2024, according to SPD's command staff page.

The scale difference is stark. Beloit has roughly 36,000 residents and 70 sworn officers. Seattle has more than 800,000 residents and about 1,000 officers.

As deputy chief in Seattle, Sayles oversaw the Gun Violence Reduction Unit and homicide detectives. That unit arrested a suspect in the fatal shooting of two teenagers near Rainier Beach High School, according to the SPD Blotter.

Wilson said the permanent chief will be selected from the top three candidates in a process that follows city charter requirements, with City Council confirmation and community input. No specific timeline for the search has been announced.

"I have a high degree of confidence in Deputy Chief Sayles to provide that interim leadership and that stability," Wilson told The Seattle Times on July 30. "But we do want to move the search forward."

Council warns against instability

Four council members issued a joint statement on July 30, warning that Seattle has "cycled through four police chiefs in just two and a half years." Council President Joy Hollingsworth, Councilmembers Dan Strauss, Debora Juarez, and Kettle called for "stability, not further disruption," according to a statement posted on the council's site.

The sequence: Carmen Best resigned in 2020, Adrian Diaz was fired in December 2024, Barnes resigned Thursday, and Sayles now holds the interim title.

As we reported Thursday, Wilson accepted Barnes' resignation the same day she named Sayles as his replacement.

What's next

The council's Public Safety Committee, chaired by Kettle, will be the primary oversight body as the permanent search moves forward.

The joint statement called for the city's focus to remain on "reducing gun violence in Southeast Seattle and ensuring public safety agencies are coordinated and delivering timely alerts and public information."

The first test of Sayles' leadership comes this weekend, with Seafair events drawing large crowds across the city. Wilson said the department is "fully prepared" for major public events.