[16] Best defended the use of tear gas, saying that the 30 day ban exempts SWAT officers and "life safety issues".

[12] On June 8, a decision was made by Assistant Chief Tom Mahaffey to retreat from the East Precinct, which led to the establishment of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.

[17] The role that Best played in the decision to retreat from the East Precinct, and to use tear gas on protestors during the protests, is unclear because she deleted more than 27,000 text messages by hand from her city-owned mobile device.

[21] In February of 2023, the City of Seattle paid $600,000 in a lawsuit due to the deletion of texts by Best, Durkan, and Scoggins, after a federal judge deemed that they had intentionally destroyed evidence related to their handling of protests and the CHOP.

[18] On August 1, 2020, a group of less than 100 protestors marched towards Best's home in Snohomish County, but were blocked by neighbors who displayed guns.

[30] Following the 2021 election of Eric Adams, it was reported that Best was on the shortlist to become the first woman to lead the New York City Police Department;[31] however, she was not selected for the position.