Art Acevedo

Acevedo began his career as a field patrol officer in East Los Angeles with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in 1986 after graduation from their training academy.[3] He rose to the rank of chief with CHP in 2005.[5]

In 2008, Acevedo received a settlement of almost $1 million from CHP in connection to a harassment lawsuit. The suit alleged that he was retaliated against by CHP commissioner Dwight "Spike" Helmick after applying for the position of CHP chief.[6] According to Acevedo's attorney, Helmick improperly shared information from a confidential investigation into sexual harassment claims against Acevedo. During the 2004 sexual harassment investigation, multiple officers stated that Acevedo, while on duty, showed them nude photographs of a fellow officer with whom he allegedly had an affair. Acevedo denied showing the pictures.[7]

Acevedo was hired as chief of the Austin Police Department in 2007. Following the February 8, 2016, shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old David Joseph, Acevedo fired officer Geoffrey Freeman, citing failure to follow policy.[8] Freeman appealed the firing, reaching a settlement in December 2016 that awarded him $35,000 and allowed him to work for other police departments.[9] In April 2016, Acevedo was officially reprimanded and punished by the Austin City Manager for his misconduct following the shooting, with the potential to lose his job. Older "operation and judgment concerns" from August 2011 were mentioned as well.[10]

During his time in Austin, Acevedo appeared on The Alex Jones Show to discuss policing on multiple occasions.[11]

In November 2016, Acevedo was hired as police chief for the Houston Police Department (HPD), filling a vacancy created by the retirement of Charles McClelland. Acevedo is the first person of Hispanic descent to lead the department.[12]

Shortly after the indictment of Michael Bennett for shoving a security guard at Super Bowl LI, Acevedo gave a press conference where he called Bennett "morally corrupt."[13] Charges against Bennett were dropped in 2019.[14]

In January 2019, HPD officers conducted the Pecan Park raid, a no-knock raid that resulted in the deaths of two homeowners (Regina Nicholas and Dennis Tuttle) and injury of five officers.[15] The basis for the raid, that the couple were heroin dealers, later turned out to be false.[16] Acevedo initially refused to release an audit of the Narcotics Division, which revealed widespread problems in the division.[17] The scandal was described by Houston Chronicle reporters as "one of the worst to hit HPD in years."[18] The veteran HPD officer, Gerald Goines, who led the raid based on false information, was initially praised by Acevedo for his courage despite a decades-long history of allegations of misconduct.[19] In June 2020, Nicholas’ brother, John, penned a Houston Chronicle editorial titled, “What about Harding Street raid? Acevedo, Turner give soundbites on police brutality but stay silent about my sister’s death.”[20]

Acevedo received national attention for his public statements in support of meaningful reform in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, paired with significant criticisms for a lack of action locally to reduce police violence and increase transparency.[21] In the six weeks leading up to George Floyd's murder, HPD officers shot and killed six people. Despite widespread calls from citizens and local politicians to release body-worn camera footage, Acevedo refused, prompting calls for stronger police oversight in Houston.[21]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, murders rose significantly in Houston, as in many other cities. A Houston Chronicle investigation and internal audit found that by 2019, HPD's rate of solving homicides lagged far behind those of many other major cities as well as the department's own clearance rates before Acevedo's tenure.[22]

Acevedo was a vocal critic of local bail reform efforts, claiming that misdemeanor bail reform was a factor in rising violent crime, a claim that was contested by local politicians and criminal justice experts.[23][24][25]

In March 2021, Acevedo announced that he would leave the HPD to become chief of police of the Miami Police Department.[26] Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami, compared the hiring to "getting the Tom Brady or the Michael Jordan of police chiefs."[27] Acevedo was sworn into the position in Miami on April 5, 2021.[28] In June 2021, Acevedo posed for a photo with Gabriel Garcia, a leader within the extremist right-wing group the Proud Boys.[29] Acevedo claimed he wasn't aware of Garcia's background when he posed for the picture.[29]

Acevedo said that he went to reform policing in Miami, and referred to a "Cuban mafia" that controlled the city, which ignited a feud with the Miami City Commission.[30] On October 12, 2021, Acevedo was suspended by City Manager Art Noriega. "Relationships between employers and employees come down to fit and leadership style and unfortunately, Chief Acevedo is not the right fit for this organization," Noriega elaborated.[31] He was fired on October 14, 2021.[32]

On November 15, 2022, the city of Aurora announced that they would appoint Acevedo as interim chief of the Aurora Police Department.[33][34]