What's Seattle getting? Here are a few things we've written about Chief Barnes over the past four years 🧵 - ThreadSky

tonemadison.bsky.social • 66 days ago

What's Seattle getting? Here are a few things we've written about Chief Barnes over the past four years 🧵

INBOX: “Today, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the appointment of Shon Barnes as the next Chief of the Seattle Police Department (SPD), following a national search. Barnes has served as the Chief of Police for Madison, Wisconsin since 2021…”

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gropeforluna.bsky.social•66 days ago

@reverenddollars.bsky.social spread the word

reverenddollars.bsky.social•65 days ago

A commitment and dedication to terrorizing cities on isthmi

tonemadison.bsky.social•66 days ago

First, Barnes' hiring in Madison was itself controversial. @aliceraeherman.bsky.social reported in 2020 about the lack of community input in the hiring process, and explored concerns about Barnes' fixation on "predictive policing"

tonemadison.bsky.social•66 days ago

You may hear a lot in the coming days about Madison's "progressive" police department, and how Barnes fits into that mold. @scottgordonwi.bsky.social explained in a 2021 column that the public should be wary of those narratives:

tonemadison.bsky.social•66 days ago

Barnes was not yet MPD's chief during the 2020 uprisings, when MPD officers attacked protestors with tear gas and other riot weapons. He did, however, successfully oppose a subsequent effort to take MPD's tear gas away. Kay Reynolds wrote this commentary about it in 2022

tonemadison.bsky.social•66 days ago

Madison cops and politicians love to throw around buzzwords about supposed policing innovations like the "Madison method." Barnes added to the canon in 2023 with the apparently novel concept of "Madison-Centric Policing"

tonemadison.bsky.social•66 days ago

During Barnes' tenure, MPD assisted UW-Madison Police in carrying out a violent crackdown on a pro-Palestine encampment. Police falsely characterized protestors as violent.

Barnes told elected officials MPD officers that day used "restraint and de-escalation": https://tonemadison.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Madison-Police-Response-to-Mutual-Aid-5_2024.pdf

tonemadison.bsky.social•66 days ago

Barnes has also signaled that he would like to take advantage of a disturbing new Wisconsin law that hinders public access to body-camera footage

silvery13.bsky.social•66 days ago

Wait. He's leaving?? D:

lex.vaughn.theneedling.com•66 days ago

Thanks for this thread! Perfect heads up for us in Seattle. I wish y'all would get back on Twitter so we civic nerds could share this thread over there too. But sigh I shall share screen caps instead.

scottgordonwi.bsky.social•66 days ago

Thanks for reading and sharing! We're still pretty dormant on Twitter... it's hard to shake off the fatigue

lex.vaughn.theneedling.com•66 days ago

Still trying to coax everyone over here -- we'll get there!

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