Burien detective retires early after he was caught viewing porn on-duty

Mark Hayden was photographed looking at topless women on his work computer while making $61/hr. He claimed he had an "addiction."

Burien police Detective Mark Hayden retired after an internal investigation discovered he routinely watched porn on his work computer while on the job. Hayden confessed to a supervisor at the King County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the city’s police services, after the The Burien Voice, a rightwing Facebook page, posted a picture of Hayden watching porn in a police car.

Though his face was blurred, he decided to admit that he was the officer in the post, reasoning that “having been in this line of work long enough… if anybody decides to look into this, I’m going to be guilty of looking at images against policy on my computer.”

A forensic review of Hayden’s work computer found nearly 18,000 pornographic images of women in “various states of undress,” according to the KCSO findings memo. Hayden primarily watched still photos of individual women nude and in lingerie, but he also had some short videos. His browser history showed that he frequented sites like EliteBabes and FreeOnes.com.

When investigators asked how often he viewed porn while at work, Hayden said he didn’t know but it was “clearly, a lot.” He said he watched porn for 20 minutes at a time or more and usually parked at dead-ends, in fenced lots, and other places he “figured [he] wasn’t going to be seen.”

Hayden said he had been struggling since 2018 and developed an “addiction” to pornography, but added that he was seeking help.

Undersheriff Jesse Anderson initially recommended an extended suspension without pay but amended that after he was advised that termination was the KCSO standard for this kind of misconduct.

Mark Hayden made $144,899, including $20,841 in overtime, in 2022, the most recent year for which we have salary data.