About Carmen Best.
Carmen Best is a leading voice on the future of public safety. She made history as the first Black woman to lead the Seattle Police Department, served through one of the most scrutinized periods in modern American policing, and has spent her career (in uniform, in the private sector, and on the page) asking a single question: what does it actually take to keep communities safe?
A life told in four chapters.
- The Story · Part One
A career built one rank at a time
Carmen joined the Seattle Police Department in 1992 and spent the next 28 years in public safety, rising through every rank: officer, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, deputy chief. In 2018 she was appointed Chief of Police, becoming the first Black woman to lead the department in its history.
- The Story · Part Two
Leadership through the hardest chapter
As Chief from 2018 to 2020, Carmen led the department through one of the most demanding and most scrutinized periods in the modern history of American policing. It was leadership without a script. It tested every belief she held about trust, accountability, and what a police department owes the people it serves.
- The Story · Part Three
A decision about principle
In 2020, Carmen made the decision that would come to define her. Rather than carry out budget cuts she believed would dismantle the diverse force she had worked to build (cuts that, under reverse-seniority rules, would have fallen hardest on the newest officers, many of them officers of color), she stepped down. It was a choice of principle over position.
- The Story · Part Four
What she is building now
Since then, Carmen has built a national platform. She is the best-selling author of Black in Blue, a national news contributor, and a leader in global corporate security. She speaks and writes for audiences across the corporate, public, and civic worlds, always returning to the same question that has driven her whole career.
Four convictions, non-negotiable.
Both/and over either/or
Safety and justice are the same goal. She holds them together.
Accountability, including her own
Leadership means owning hard decisions and their consequences.
Diversity as a strength, not a slogan
A workforce that reflects the public it serves is a practical advantage.
Hope, grounded in experience
Optimism that has been tested, and held.
Honors and recognition.
Carmen’s work has been recognized with honors including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. The full, current list of honors and board service will be confirmed by Carmen and added here.