[ADRIAN DIAZ] Every day I'm learning something new about the job
and learning something new about myself.
I'm Adrian Diaz,
I am the chief of Police for the Seattle Police Department.
♪♪
Born in Santa Ana, California, I eventually moved up to
Mercer Island. I loved it.
I love the green.
I love the weather, the seasons.
So I've stayed here ever since.
There was a time
where I literally almost said, “you know,
maybe this is not the career that I choose.”
I was working in the grocery business.
I was actually running grocery stores.
And then I decided on a whim and just go into
into policing.
And then I was really going down
the path of just being a tactical officer.
I wanted to go to all the specialized units
I wanted to try maybe the K-9 unit.
I even tested for the SWAT team.
And then the department
sent me down to work in Peru for about a month.
And it really kind of gave me this perspective of like,
how do I do prevention intervention?
It really kind of opened up my eyes to something
completely different, and you just never know
what those things are in your life.
But clearly just my experience in Peru really changed
the path of my career.
You know,
I actually read philosophy every single day.
If you look into the idea of Plato's “Republic,” in book two,
it really talks about kind of
the development of a philosopher
where the philosopher
that can really kind of make decisions
and then adjust and understand
like how to best serve the community,
but also being a warrior where you can actually swing
a sword and defend society.
And it’s that balance,
that you cannot have one overcome the other.
It really just kind of made my brain think about like,
how do I develop that philosopher side of it?
And really kind of understand
how I'm constantly adjusting to communities needs.
-For the position of... -The chief of police.
It's such a proud moment to have him pin the badge.
My kids, I mean,
they're away from me every single day
because I work hard,
but sometimes they don't get to see that. And
it's very powerful.
Like, you know, he gets to be a part of my experience.
I want them to understand what it's about to service.
What about is helping others,
not thinking about yourself
and really focused on making sure
that you know, you're doing everything you can for people.
And that's what I do every day.
♪♪