The City with Two Police Chiefs
While a legal battle over the city charter rages in court, Seattle finds itself in the absurd position of having two men claiming to lead the police force at once.
The situation in police circles grows more and more interesting. The papers, being prepared by Sears and Ashton at the instance of Chief McKay to require Chief of Police-elect Fuller to explain his rights in the premises, were completed yesterday and will be presented before Judge Allyn this morning, who will be asked to issue the writ of quo warranto. In speaking with Judge Sears yesterday, he said: 'It is one of those cases growing out of this strange charter of ours, a new question that none but the Court can give a satisfactory opinion upon.' McKay still wears the gold badge, however. 'Oh, yes,' said the Judge, 'and will wear it right along until the Court decides he has no right to—if it does so decide.' So the city is still enjoying the luxury of two Chiefs of Police. McKay is on the street daily, wearing the elegant gold badge presented to him by a citizen in his term, attending to the duties of the office as formerly, and speaks confidently of his prospects of continuing them indefinitely. Fuller, who waited through Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, assumed charge of the same duties on Tuesday.
“So the city is still enjoying the luxury of two Chiefs of Police.”
In 1887, Seattle's growing pains manifested in a bizarre administrative standoff where two men claimed the same badge. Today, the struggle has shifted from individual power plays to the systemic reform of police accountability, yet the city remains just as embroiled in debates over the interpretation of its governing charters.
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