SEATTLE — A Seattle police officer has been placed on administrative leave after Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz said Friday he listened to an audio recording including comments by the officer that led to the filing of a bias/hate complaint.
“As I have said from the beginning of my tenure as Chief of Police, racist comments and behavior by department employees will not be tolerated,” Diaz’s statement said.
The statement comes after a story Friday in The Stranger newspaper with audio of Seattle Police Officer Burton Hill calling his Asian American neighbor racist and sexist slurs during an argument in their suburban Seattle condominium complex in 2022. Hill was off duty at the time.
A Chinese social services organization filed the complaint recently with the city’s Office of Police Accountability, The Stranger reported. The Associated Press has sent an email to Hill seeking comment.
Diaz also said Friday he has directed staff to review Hill’s arrest and investigation history.
