Seattle Police Chief to Resign         08/11 06:20

   

   SEATTLE (AP) -- Seattle's police chief says she is stepping down, a move 
made public the same day the City Council approved reducing the department by 
as many as 100 officers through layoffs and attrition.

   Carmen Best, the city's first Black police chief, said in a letter to the 
department that her retirement will be effective Sept. 2 and the mayor has 
appointed Deputy Chief Adrian Diaz as the interim chief, KING-TV reported 
Monday. Councilmembers had approved the cuts Monday.

   "I am confident the department will make it through these difficult times," 
Best said in the letter. "You truly are the best police department in the 
country, and please trust me when I say, 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 re-envisioning public safety. I 
relish the work that will be done by all of you."

   In an email to police Mayor Jenny Durkan said she she accepted Best's 
decision "with a very heavy heart."

   "I regret deeply that she concluded that the best way to serve the city and 
help the department was a change in leadership, in the hope that would change 
the dynamics to move forward with the City Council," Durkan wrote.

   Durkan and Best planned a Tuesday morning news conference.

   The mayor picked Best in July of 2018 to lead the department. She had been 
serving as interim chief.

   A military veteran, Best joined the department in 1992 and had worked in a 
wide variety of roles, including patrol, media relations, narcotics and 
operations and deputy chief.

   Cuts to the department have been supported by demonstrators who have marched 
in the city following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis but 
strongly opposed by Durkan and Best.

   Measures that would cut less than $4 million of the department's $400 
million annual budget this year passed out of committee unanimously last week. 
On Monday, only council member Kshama Sawant voted against the budget package, 
saying it does not do enough to defund 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 are seeking. Several council members on Monday said the changes were 
a starting point in a long process to reimagine policing and public safety.

   The City Council also cut Best's roughly $285,000 annual salary and the pay 
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 can't do everything in this summer rebalancing package, we have 
set the path forward for tremendous work in front of us as a council and as a 
city," Council member Teresa Mosqueda said.

   Durkan and Best had urged the council to slow down its discussions about 
police budgets, saying the issue could be taken up in earnest when the 2021 
city budget is considered. They also said any layoffs would disproportionately 
target newer officers, often hired from Black and brown communities, and would 
inevitably lead to lawsuits.

   Durkan has proposed cutting about $20 million from the police budget this 
year largely because of reduced revenues amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Last 
month, the mayor sketched out a plan to reduce the police budget by about $75 
million next year by transferring parking enforcement officers, the 911 call 
center and other areas out of the department.

   "It is unfortunate Council has refused to engage in a collaborative process 
to work with the mayor, Chief Best, and community members to develop a budget 
and policies that respond to community needs while accounting for --- not just 
acknowledging --- the significant labor and legal implications involved in 
transforming the Seattle Police Department," Durkan said in a statement after 
the vote.