SEATTLE — A large gathering of black clergy and faith leaders assembled Sunday at Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church to meet with Seattle Chief of Police Carmen Best to call for immediate reforms within the SPD.
Best began her Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation, where she described having an epiphany while marching with 60,000 people Saturday who called for dramatic changes now.
“And there were thousands of people carrying those particular signs. And I just realized it was a moment, an epiphany that this is a pivotal moment in history,” Best said. “We are going to move in a different direction, and policing will never be the same as it was before.”
She said her department had already taken major steps to stop racial bias and excessive use of force following the issuance of a federally-imposed consent decree in 2012.
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“I absolutely believe in accountability. But ... we’ve moved away from using the word, ‘reform.’ We were under a consent decree (in) the Seattle Police Department for almost a decade. We followed every rule and everything that was asked of us to do,” Best said.
During the meeting, Best also heard words of encouragement from spiritual leaders. She repeated that she is working to make change and is poised to respond to everyone who is demanding that policing be reimagined.
This the end of a two-minute standing ovation given to Chief Carmen Best by leadership of Seattle’s Black Clergy. She told them she understands her charge and role in forcing change within her force. Rousing spiritual speeches moved her. “My heart is full,” she said. pic.twitter.com/QFLL74Y16X
— Gary Horcher (@GaryKIRO7) June 14, 2020
Humbled and priveleged to join the Seattle United Black Clergy, Rabbi Berkovitz, and the Jewish community at the Goodwill Baptist Church today. We joined in prayer and began a series of conversations about healing, rebuilding, and reenvisioning our justice system. pic.twitter.com/F6ZE5L2vkI
— Chief Carmen Best (@carmenbest) June 14, 2020
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