Seattle police officer put on leave after newspaper reports alleged off-duty racist comments

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz says he has taken steps to place an officer on administrative leave after Diaz listened to an audio recording with comments by the officer that led to the filing of a bias/hate complaint. Diaz said in a statement Friday that racist comments and behavior by department employees will not be tolerated. The statement comes after The Stranger published a story Friday with audio of Seattle Police Officer Burton Hill allegedly calling his Asian American neighbor racist and sexist slurs during an argument. Hill was off duty at the time. Earlier this week, Seattle’s Community Police Commission recommended a different officer under investigation for making callous remarks about the death of a woman from India be put on unpaid leave.