Director John F. Hayes Jr.

Seattle Police Department

Biography

Director John F. Hayes Jr. is a twenty-six (26) year veteran of the Seattle Police Department. Dir. Hayes has a Bachelors degree in Social Welfare and Women’s Studies and a Master’s Degree in Social Work all from the University of Washington.

As a member of the Seattle Police Department Dir. Hayes worked several years as a patrol officer before moving into the detective ranks. As a detective he worked in the Gang Unit, oversaw the Seattle Team for Youth Program and for ten years was a member of the Seattle Police Department Hostage Negotiation Team.

After he was promoted to Sergeant in December of 1996, Dir. Hayes returned to patrol for three years. From there he was assigned for eleven months as an A/Lieutenant to start the first Southeast Seattle Weed and Seed Program. In February of 2000 Dir. Hayes was selected into the Internal Investigations Section. After leaving the Internal Investigations Section he supervised the Seattle Police Departments’ Media Relations Unit for two years and the sworn officers in the Crime Prevention Section and the Employee/Community and Support Bureau. Supervising over 15 employees in that assignment. On June 18, 2003 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

Dir. Hayes worked briefly in the SW Precinct as the Operations Lieutenant in Operations Bureau 2. From there moved to the East Precinct and was the Operations Lieutenant for 4 1/2 years. As the East Precinct Operations Lieutenant and was responsible for supervising the detectives in the Seattle Team For Youth Program, Drug Court Unit, officers in the Seattle Police Department Youth Outreach Unit (affectionately known as YO SPD), the Community Service Officer handling runaways, Community Service Officer for the East Precinct, Community Police Team Officers, Crime Prevention Officer and Juvenile/Burglary Theft detectives. He was also a SPD representative on the City of Seattle Racial Profiling Task Force and the Inter Departmental Team (IDT) evaluating all juvenile outreach programs offered by the City of Seattle.

The promotion to Director was official on April 2, 2008. As Director he commands the Seattle Police Departments Community Relations Division. Dir. Hayes is responsible for the Media Relations Unit, SPD Citizens Academy, Youth Outreach Section, the city wide Citizens Advisory Councils and the Community Advisory Councils. He is also on several policy and advisory committees that have local police interests.

Dir. Hayes has served as an advisor for the University of Chicago School of Social Services Administration gang program: National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention. This program worked in cooperation with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the U.S. Justice Department. He was also appointed by the Governor of Washington to the State Task Force on Children’s Justice. Dir. Hayes continues to be an instructor, facilitator and guest presenter for the Washington State Bar Association’ Washington Criminal Justice Institute Conference, The King County Bar Association, Seattle University, University of Washington and many organizations within the community. Dir. Hayes has trained thousands of people (locally and nationally) in the areas of family and youth intervention services, gang violence, youth truancy and more specifically in working with high-risk juvenile populations.

Dir. Hayes is also proud graduate of the Leadership Tomorrow Class of 2003. He is currently a National Chair of the National Black Police Association (NBPA), the past and present president of the Black Law Enforcement Association of Washington, a presenter and facilitator for the National School Safety Center, a member of the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) and a Life Member of the NAACP. He is also a member of several local committees and continues to his interests in providing better services within the Juvenile Justice System.