Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best has resigned, several sources tell the CBS branch there, KIRO-TV. One source calls the development “destructive.”
The move came to light the same day that the city council approved the reduction of the department’s ranks by as many as 100 officers through dismissals and attrition, notes KIRO’s Gary Horcher:
Cuts to the department are supported by demonstrators marching in the city follow the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis but vehemently opposed by Mayor Jenny Durkan and Best.
Best, the city’s first Black police officer, said in a Monday night email to the department received by KIRO that her “pension” will be effective Sept. 2 and that Durkan has appointed Deputy Chief Adrian Diaz as the interim chief. Councilors had approved the cuts Monday.
“I am confident the department will make it through these difficult times,” Best said in the email. “You really are the best police department in the country, and please trust me when I say, the vast majority of the people in Seattle support and appreciate you. … I look forward to seeing how this department moving forward through the process of re-proposing public safety. I love the work that will be done by all of you. “
Ted S. Warren / AP
In an email sent to police shortly after Best’s message, also received by KIRO, Durkan said she accepted Best’s decision “with a very heavy heart”.
“I deeply regret that they concluded that the best way to serve the city and help the department was a change in leadership, in the hope that the momentum would change to move forward with the City Council,” Durkan wrote.
Durkan and Best are planning a news conference Tuesday morning.
The mayor elected Best in July of 2018 to head the department. She had served as interim chief.
A military veteran, Best joined the department in 1992 and worked in a wide variety of roles, including patrol, media relations, drugs and operations, and deputy chief.
Measures that cut less than $ 4 million from the department’s $ 400 million annual budget this year would be unanimous from committee last week. On Monday, only councilor Kshama Sawant voted against the budget package, saying it does not do enough to defuse the police.
Seattle currently has about 1,400 police officers and the reductions fell far short of the 50% cut to the department that many Black Lives Matter protesters seek. Several councilors said Monday that the changes were a starting point in a lengthy process to reimagine policing and public safety.
The city council also cut Best’s roughly $ 285,000 annual salary and the salaries of other top police leaders, although the final cuts to Best’s salary were significantly more modest than those approved last week. The council plan also takes officers off a team that removes homeless camps.
“While we may not be able to do everything in this summer rebalancing package, we have paved the way for tremendous work for us as a council and as a city,” said Councilwoman Teresa Mosqueda.
Durkan and Best had urged the council to carry out their talks on police budgets, saying the issue could be taken seriously when the 2021 city budget is considered. They also said that dismissals would disproportionately target new officers, often hired from Black and Brown communities, and that would inadvertently lead to lawsuits.
Durkan has proposed cutting about $ 20 million from the police budget this year, largely due to reduced revenues in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, the mayor outlined a plan to reduce the police budget by about $ 75 million next year by relocating parking lots, the 911 call center and other areas of the department.
“It is unfortunate that Council has refused to participate in a collaborative process to work with the Mayor, Chief Best, and members of the community to develop a budget and policy that responds to the needs of the community, while they account for – not just recognition – of the important labor and legal implications involved in transforming the Seattle Police Department, “Durkan said in a statement after the vote.
.
