Opinion: Carmen Best's retirement is a reality check for Seattle

I first met Carmen Best when I was the chairperson of events for the Seattle Association of Black Journalists in February of 2015. I was 8 months pregnant at the time and recently moved back to Washington from the East Coast. Questions about the city I was going to bring my daughter into, and particularly about how the police might treat her as she grew into adulthood, weighed heavily on my mind. At the time, the Seattle Police Department had attracted national attention related to an investigation of excessive force against people of color in early 2010.

After 30 minutes of group discussion with then-Deputy Chief Best, I knew we had found a leader unlike any other I had lived in across the U.S.

She was forthright about the challenges confronting the police department and spoke at length about implementing body cam technologies to address gaps in transparency and accountability within SPD. She spoke to the importance of communities having a real connection with their local precincts, and how she was supporting an initiative with Det. Carrie McNally to recruit more women and people of color into the department.

Carmen Best was committed to community policing. She was poised, joyful and inspiring.

I watched with pride as Carmen's profile grew in our local community and nationally — she navigated the tense politics of the Department of Justice consent decree with grace and humility. She advocated to protect and expand the nationally acclaimed Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program. She leveraged her leadership at community events to instill a sense of accountability in the command structure. She appeared at countless neighborhood gatherings, community events and schools to elevate the public consciousness around a shared commitment to safety, relationship building and trust.

So, I was shocked and hurt at Chief Best's retirement announcement.

It cemented an incalculable loss to the citizens of Seattle. I'm not at all surprised that her ethos of bridge building, collaboration and retail style of politics had no place in the City Council as it exists today.

It's a familiar tale for those in our community. Strong Black women in positions of power are often lauded by political leaders when expedient, then immediately scapegoated once the going gets rough. This story is as disappointing as it was predictable to the countless community leaders who supported Carmen throughout her tenure.

Ultimately, Seattle has only succeeded in expelling our most important ally in the marathon of structural reforms needed to reinvent policing in our communities.

All leaders need support to succeed — and our city's political leadership utterly abandoned Chief Best when she needed them most. It's important to remember that our city and nation face an unprecedented confluence of events that challenge our society's very fabric in a historic and vital moment for those who reside in the land of the free.

Black Lives Matter protesters are rightfully expressing their frustration with systemic injustice that commits violence on black and brown bodies in so many ways. The frightening context of Covid-19 and the economic downward pressure cooker it has created across communities adds urgency to the moment. Our national leadership incites division and violence while fomenting racist sentiments — urging us into a more electorally fragile "us vs. them" mentality as we barrel toward the November election.

To be direct, much like my roots from Detroit, I don't think anyone out there would have made every decision right in such an unpredictable situation or consistently found the right balance in managing so many competing interests.

Regardless of where they live, Black people have the right to freedom, wealth and opportunity. BLM protesters have the right for their voices to be heard. Black and brown people have the right to freedom from arbitrary violence. Business owners have the right to have their property protected. Seattleites living on Capitol Hill have the right to access emergency services when they need them.

Police officers who abide by the law and protect their citizens have the right to go home to their families at the end of the day. All of these things are true at once, and Carmen was in the unenviable front-line position of serving and protecting all these needs simultaneously.

Unfortunately, she was left holding the bag while other leaders ran for cover. And you know what? She's not sticking around for it. Good for her.

Carmen knows what being in that position meant for representing Black women and people of color. She is a leader who showed up and worked hard, despite the odds being stacked against her. She's the type of person who's not going to keep sticking up for a team that doesn't have her best interest at heart.

But she also understands the critical message she sent by walking away from a toxic environment and what that means for Black women and people of color.

I am hopeful her departure triggers a moment of introspection and self-reflection for our political leadership in the city. If we can't keep and support a Black woman as committed to the mission as Carmen Best, what hope do we have of confronting the larger challenges facing our country as a whole?

Through my experience, I’ve come to understand that no matter your upbringing, systemic bias and racist systems can rob you of your greatness. By walking away when she did, Carmen refused to let a biased system to take anything away from her.