As Westside Seattle was the first to report on June 19, following the departure of Captain Pierre Davis, Captain Kevin Grossman took over on July 1.

He has served in a wide variety of assignments, including patrol, detective in the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit, liaison officer to the Seattle Housing Authority, supervisor in the Audit, Policy, and Research Section, aide in the Chief’s Office, supervisor in the Office of Police Accountability, watch commander in two precincts, the North Precinct Operations Lieutenant, and the South Precinct commander.  He was also a Hostage Negotiator for seven years.  

Before coming to SPD, Captain Grossman earned a law degree from the University of Wisconsin and worked briefly as an Assistant Attorney General for the Washington Attorney General’s Office. In 2017, Captain Grossman earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington.

He has shared a message to the community.

Hello! I'm the new captain of the Southwest Precinct. Good morning! I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself: My name is Kevin Grossman, and I’m the new captain of the Southwest Precinct. I’ve been a Seattle Police Officer since 1996, and I’ve served in a variety of assignments throughout the Department. Most recently, I was the commander of the Special Victims Crimes Section, which includes the Domestic Violence Unit and the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit. Before that, I was the captain of the South Precinct, located across the Duwamish River in the Rainier Valley. I am excited to be in West Seattle, and in the short time I have been here (this is my second week) I have been impressed with the level of involvement in the community by the residents here, and I look forward to being a part of your community. I also want to address the initiative making its way through City Council to defund the Seattle Police Department by 50%. Last week, Chief Best communicated to the Council--and to the public--the reality of what those cuts would look like, including the elimination of half of our workforce and the Southwest Precinct itself. When I started with SPD, my training included rotations through three different precincts, including the South Precinct. At that time, officers from that facility had to commute across the Duwamish to respond to calls for service in West Seattle. Just the drive alone resulted in long response times--sometimes exacerbated by boat or train traffic. I can only imagine what response times would be today from the Rainier Valley with the West Seattle Bridge closed. Further, in my humble opinion, it is simply unconscionable for a city of over 700,000 people to be staffed by a police department with only 630 employees. In any case, if you have an opinion about the proposed cuts, I urge you to contact the City Council: in particular Councilmember Lisa Herbold, who represents West Seattle and is the chair of the Public Safety Committee. She can be reached at lisa.herbold@seattle.gov or 206-684-8801. You might also contact Council President Lorena Gonzalez at lorena.gonzalez@seattle.gov or 206-684-8809. You can also send an email to the Council as a whole at council@seattle.gov. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to seeing you in the community!