'Not ... an honest process': Community demands Carmen Best be added to finalist list for Seattle police chief



SEATTLE -- Some community members are demanding the city of Seattle and the mayor add current interim Police Chief Carmen Best to the list of finalists for consideration as the new police chief.

On Friday, Seattle city officials announced the three finalists for the police chief position.

The finalists are former Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay, Minneapolis Police Department Deputy Chief of Patrol Eddie Frizell, and Austin (Texas) Assistant Police Chief Ely Reyes.

Missing from the list of finalists was Best, the interim Seattle police chief.

“The process itself has not been an honest process, it’s been a broken process,” said Enrique Gonzalez, a member of the selection committee for the new police chief. He says, he and other committee members were left in the dark on the decision to pass Best over as a finalist.

City officials say they wanted a chief with a fresh outlook, one not from Seattle

Members of the selection process say if that is the case, why did they let Best make it so far in the process. She had been among the final five, before that was narrowed to three.

On Tuesday, Mayor Jenny Durkan addressed this question.

“With all due respect, the person that has the most say in that is Carmen Best. Carmen Best has said to me she is ready to move on. She respects the process. She is disappointed, but she respects the process," said Durkan.

Kevin Stuckey, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, said despite the three finalists, the mayor can still choose Best if she wants.

He said Best is the candidate who the rank-and-file police officers and the community want.

“To somehow imply she can’t continue the work she has been doing, that is disrespectful, and a smack in the face to the work she has already done,” he said.

Seattle and police officials say Carmen Best has not withdrawn her name from consideration for the position.