By Suzie Ziegler
REDMOND, Wash. — Chief Carmen Best has a new gig. The former Seattle police chief will join tech giant Microsoft as director of global security risk operations, Bloomberg reported last week.
Best resigned from the Seattle Police Department in 2020 after the city council approved layoffs for as many as 100 officers.
“I’ve always admired Microsoft’s commitment to supporting and empowering diverse communities,” Best wrote in a LinkedIn post. “With new challenges and opportunities ahead, I’m ready to build on my experiences and join a team whose values of helping others, inclusion of all, and engaging the community align with my own.”
According to her LinkedIn profile, Best will be responsible for the “global virtual security operations team, intelligence, executive threat intel, special asset security, event security, travel security, security risk operations, and security program management office.”
Best was most recently working as a global account director with Securitas Security Services, according to GeekWire. She also sits on the AI ethics board at bodycam manufacturer Axon and last year published her book, “Black in Blue: Lessons on Leadership, Breaking Barriers, and Racial Reconciliation.”
Best joined the Seattle Police Department in 1992 and worked in a variety of roles before she was chosen to lead the department in 2018, reported the Associated Press.
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