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‘This woman was the woman we needed’: Durkan, Best speak out after police chief pick

Interim Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said she was thrilled to be selected for the permanent position.
Newly selected Seattle Police Chief and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan speak with KING 5's Alex Rozier about the chief selection process on July 19, 2018.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and newly selected Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best spoke out Thursday about the chief selection process and what’s next.

“I knew what we needed in a police chief, and this woman was the woman we needed,” Durkan said in an exclusive interview with KING 5’s Alex Rozier.

Durkan tapped Best, who’s currently serving as interim police chief, for the permanent position Tuesday. Best is a 26-year veteran of the police department and is slated to be Seattle Police’s first black female police chief.

Seattle City Council could confirm the nomination as early as mid-August.

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Best said there is nothing more important than building trust with the community, and she wants the public to feel her officers are part of the community.

“Getting officers out of their cars, engaging with the public that we serve, making sure we adhere to a community policing philosophy of engaging with community, inviting them in and building relationships all along the way,” Best said.

RELATED: 'A role model': Teen reacts to Carmen Best chosen for Seattle police chief

Durkan said she had confidence Best would lead by example.

“That’s the kind of thing you lead from the front, and this is what Carmen is so great at,” Durkan said. “In every stage of her career, she makes that connection, and so to be able to lead and expect that of her officers in rank and file, she’s done it herself.”

Watch an extended interview with Durkan and Best on Facebook Live.

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