By Erica C. Barnett
Shortly after the city council’s vote to reduce the Seattle Police Department’s budget about 7 percent this year—with a promise of much more to come—Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best announced she is stepping down on September 2. Assistant police chief Adrian Diaz will serve as interim chief.
The C Is for Crank independently confirmed Best’s resignation.
Best, the first African American woman to serve as police chief in Seattle’s history, has been criticized by advocates for police defunding, including those who were injured by “less-lethal” weapons such as tear gas during recent protests, and praised by the mayor and SPD supporters for defending her department in the face of proposals to cut its funding.
Best recently made headlines when she praised her neighbors in Snohomish, where she lives, for chasing away a group of protesters who attempted to go to her home; video posted by the Every Day March demonstrators show a blockade of pickup trucks across the road and at least one man wielding a shotgun.
The C Is for Crank is supported entirely by generous contributions from readers like you. If you enjoy breaking news, commentary, and deep dives on issues that matter to you, please support this work by donating a few bucks a month to keep this reader-supported site going. If you don’t wish to become a monthly contributor, you can always make a one-time donation via PayPal, Venmo (Erica-Barnett-7) or by mailing your contribution to P.O. Box 14328, Seattle, WA 98104. I’m truly grateful for your support.
In a letter to her staff, Best directed her praise toward Mayor Jenny Durkan and the rank and file, thanking the mayor “for her continuous support through good times and tough times” and assuring officers that despite “these difficult times…the vast majority of people in Seattle support you and appreciate you.”
“I look forward to seeing how this department moves forward through the process of reenvisioning public safety,” Best continued. “I relish the work that will be done by all of you.
She said nothing about the city council, which voted last week to reduce her salary from nearly $300,000 to $171,000, then decided against it today.
Durkan responded to Best’s letter by sending her own letter to officers, which called Best’s leadership “unmatched nationwide, which is why it is a sad day for our City to lose her.”
Best (and the mayor) have consistently opposed attempts to defund the police department, arguing that the city has been a model of reform and transparency and that cuts would jeopardize SPD’s ability to respond to crimes in progress like burglaries and rapes.
your bias is showing