Meet our newest member, Chief Carmen Best, who is Chief of Police for the City of Seattle. Chief Best’s classification is Government & Policy. She has been nominated by President Kim Moore and Chief Harold Scoggins.
Chief Best grew up in Tacoma and graduated from Lincoln High School. She then attended Eastern Washington University, spent several years in the military, and worked for Aetna here in downtown Seattle. She then joined the Seattle Police Department where she has served for the past 28 years. She was promoted to Chief of Police in August, 2018.
At the Seattle Police Department (SPD), she worked in many different areas of the department and served in every rank before becoming Chief. She took a special interest in community relations, undertaking many training opportunities and, in fact, completed her undergraduate degree from Western Illinois University and her Master’s in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University while working on the force.
Chief Best also has played many leadership roles outside of the SPD both nationally and in the region. She serves as the Chair of the Human and Civil Rights Committee for the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is on the association’s Board of Directors. She is the Vice-Chair of the Exploring for the Learning for Life National Executive Board. Additionally, Chief Best is a board member for the United Way of King County and is the Leadership Council Chair for the United Negro College Fund Seattle.
Chief Best and her husband, Larry, have two adult daughters – one lives in the region and works at Amazon and the other works as a physician’s assistant in Southern California. As the Chief, she has no spare time of course, but nevertheless she makes time for running (she did not tell me she ran track at Eastern), the outdoors, and attending plays and musicals.
Chief Best is excited about joining Seattle 4 Rotary. She says we have a great history and do wonderful things for the community, and she is looking forward to connecting with that.
