Her retirement is expected to take effect on Sept. 2
Carmen
Best, the Seattle police chief, emailed her resignation notice late
Monday, hours after the city council made good on its promise to
approve sweeping proposals that would
cut about 100 officers and slash the department’s budget.
Best’s email, which was obtained by Jason Rantz, a local
radio host, said that her retirement will be effective Sept. 2.
“I wanted you to hear this from me, but some media have
reached this conclusion on their own,” she wrote. “This was a difficult
decision for me, but when it’s time, it’s time.”
She thanked Mayor Jenny Durkan for her “her continuous
support” and said that the Seattle PD is “truly the best police department in
the country, and please trust me when I say, the vast majority of the
people in Seattle support you and appreciate you.”
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 minority communities, and would
inevitably lead to lawsuits.
Brandi Kruse, a reporter for Q13 Fox, tweeted that there
is a press conference set for 11 a.m. Tuesday. She said two sources told her
that the announcement is imminent.
The Seattle 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.
On Monday, only Council Member Kshama Sawant voted
against the budget package, saying it does not do enough to defund the police.
Best, who served in the department for 28
years, ended her email saying that she looks 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.”
The Associated Press contributed to this
report.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/carmen-best-seattles-top-cop-emails-resignation-notice-to-officers-report
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RELATED
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Black Lives Matter holds rally in Chicago to
support those arrested after looting, unrest
Chicago
Black Lives Matter/Antifa thugs injure 13 cops, loot stores on Miracle Mile
“That is reparations,” a BLM organizer said. “Anything
they wanted to take, they can take it because these businesses have
insurance"
Black Lives Matter members in Chicago held a
rally on Monday to support the more than 100 arrested last night
following widespread looting and rioting that caused at least $60 million
in property damage and saw 13 police
officers injured, according to a report.
The rally was organized by Black Lives Matter Chicago and
was held at a police station in the South Loop where organizers say individuals
are currently being held in custody. At least one organizer called the looting
tantamount to "reparations."
“I don’t care if someone decides to loot a Gucci or a
Macy’s or a Nike store, because that makes sure that person eats,” said Ariel
Atkins, a BLM organizer, according to NBC Chicago. “That makes sure that person
has clothes.”
Protesters
hold a banner as Ariel Atkins (not seen), a lead organizer for Black Lives
Matter Chicago, talks to reporters Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, outside the Chicago
Police Department's District 1 station in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex
Arbogast)
“That is reparations,” Atkins continued. “Anything they
wanted to take, they can take it because these businesses have insurance.”
The unrest was prompted by a social media post urging
people to converge on Chicago’s business district after police shot a
man on the South Side around 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Officers had responded to a call about a man with a
gun in the Englewood neighborhood. While being pursued by police, the man,
who was on foot, “turned and fired shots” at officers
before being struck himself and taken to a local
hospital, Deputy Chief Delonda Tally told Fox 32 Chicago.
Latrell Allen, 20, was charged with attempted murder
Monday after firing on officers, according to Chicago police. A
video posted on Facebook around 6:30 p.m. falsely claimed that
officers had shot and killed a 15-year-old boy.
The shooting prompted hundreds of people to descend on
downtown Chicago early Monday with vandals smashing the windows of dozens of
businesses and making off with merchandise, cash machines and anything else
they could carry, police said.
Yogi
Dalal hugs his daughter Jigisha as his other daughter Kajal, left, bows her
head at the family food and liquor store Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, after the
family business was vandalized in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
“This was not an organized protest. Rather, this was an
incident of pure criminality," Police Superintendent David Brown told
reporters. "This was an act of violence against our police officers and
against our city.”
BLM organizers criticized police reports surrounding the
shooting, noting that none of the officers involved had body cameras, which
investigators confirmed, according to NBC Chicago.
Black Lives Matter Chicago issued a statement obtained by
the Chicago Sun-Times that read, “The mayor clearly has not learned anything
since May, and she would be wise to understand that the people will keep rising
up until the [Chicago Police Department] is abolished and our Black communities
are fully invested in,” the group said in a statement.
“Police say a lot of things,” Atkins added. “Even
though the Department of Justice said with the consent decree they are no
longer allowed to chase people, they decided they were going to chase, and they
shot this young man multiple times."
Fox News' Bradford Betz and The Associated
Press contributed to this report
David
Aaro is a Reporter at Fox News Digital based in New York City.
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