For weeks, pundits wondered whether incoming Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson would fire the city's police chief. We now know she won’t, but we still have questions about how a democratic socialist who used to support "defund" the police will run the police department.

Listen to the full Soundside interview with Chief Shon Barnes here. 

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible. If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundpoliticsnotes.

Sound Politics is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Catharine Smith. Our producer is Hans Anderson. Our hosts are Libby Denkmann and Scott Greenstone.

Updated on 12/12/2025 at 3:25 p.m.: An initial version of this podcast misattributed a quote about the role of collective bargaining in police accountability policy to Chief Shon Barnes.  It was a statement by Judge James Robart. That audio has been removed.

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