Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo resigning to lead the Miami department
Houston’s outspoken police chief is resigning to lead the Miami Police Department.
Art Acevedo confirmed to CNN in an email Monday morning that he will be leaving his present position after more than four years to become the City of Miami’s next police chief.
In a letter to the department that was provided to CNN, Acevedo said, “We have been through so much as an extended family; Hurricane Harvey, two World Series, a Super Bowl, Irma, the Summer of protests, and most recently, an ice storm of epic proportion.”
Born in Cuba, the 56-year-old Acevedo was the first Hispanic to lead the police department in Houston, the nation’s fourth most populous city. His resignation will be formally announced later Monday. Acevedo will replace Miami Interim Chief of Police Ronald L. Papier.
Acevedo has become a fixture in national discussions of policing and public safety, and has frequently spoken out against national and state Republican lawmakers.
In an interview last year with CNN’s Christianne Amanpour, Acevedo was asked about former President Donald Trump’s reported comments calling governors “weak” for not cracking down more severely on violent protests.
“Let me just say this to the President of the United States on behalf of the police chiefs in this country, please, if you don’t have something constructive to say, keep your mouth shut,” Acevedo said. “Because you’re putting men and women in their early 20s at risk. It’s not about dominating, it’s about winning hearts and minds.”
In 2019, Acevedo criticized Republican senators for not reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act and taking action against gun violence, asking them in emotional remarks to choose between the nation’s foremost gun lobby and “the children that are getting gunned down in this country every single day.”
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States with a population of 2.3 million. Acevedo has led a department of 5,400 sworn law enforcement officers and 892 civilian support personnel.
He’ll be moving to a smaller department in Miami, which has about 1,300 sworn officers.
“I was not looking for this opportunity when it arose, but with the end Mayor (Sylvester) Turner’s final term in office fast approaching, and my strong desire to continue serving as a police officer, we decided the timing for this move was good,” Acevedo said in his letter to the Houston department.
Acevedo was 4 when he immigrated to the United States with his family in 1968, according to his biography on the Houston police department’s website. He grew up in California and earned a bachelor of science degree in public administration from the University of La Verne in California.
Acevedo began his law enforcement career with the California Highway Patrol in 1986 as a field patrol officer in Los Angeles and was named chief of the California Highway Patrol in 2005, according to his bio. He also served over nine years as the Chief of Police for Austin.
Houston and the rest of Texas has suffered through the Covid-19 pandemic. Earlier this month, Acevedo called the governor’s decision to lift a statewide mask mandate a “step in the wrong direction,” and added that he expects it will lead to an uptick in calls to his department.
“In this state, businesses have property rights. And so you know, ‘no mask, no service’ means you can’t be in that business,” he said. “So if a person does not want to wear the mask and refuses to wear the mask and refuses to leave, they’re committing what’s called criminal trespass.”
In February 2021, Acevedo was interviewed by CNN’s Don Lemon about the severe mass electrical outage in Texas following inclement weather, and the chief blasted state leaders for their policies.
“When our state leaders decide to do things on their own, because they can do it better, then those state leaders better make sure that they are always prepared for a worst-case scenario,” he said.
