Art Acevedo lands Aurora, Colorado's interim police chief job after messy exit out of Miami, Florida
The former Houston police leader sued the city of Miami in January 2022 over claims he was fired for blowing whistle.
AURORA, Colorado (KTRK) -- Former Houston police Chief Art Acevedo is about to lead a third different law enforcement department in less than two years.
Aurora, Colorado landed Acevedo as its interim police chief. The city announced the hiring and introduced him during a news conference Tuesday.
The 58-year-old was chosen as the city said it is resetting the national recruitment process for a permanent chief.
Acevedo, who will be in place to take over in early December, alluded to his time in the Bayou City in pointing out the Denver suburb's culture.
"Aurora reminds me of Houston. Both cities are incomparably diverse and culturally rich," Acevedo said. "As a bilingual Cuban American born in Cuba and raised in the U.S., I am intimately familiar with the challenges facing diverse communities like Aurora, and I applaud the city's simultaneous efforts to tackle crime and implement public safety changes to better reflect the people it serves."
Acevedo's life in law enforcement has stretched over the better part of four decades, but he hasn't served in an official law enforcement capacity in a year. He left the Miami Police Department on less-than-good terms when in October 2021 he was fired after a six-month tenure, which included high-profile demotions, firings, and shakeups within the department.
In return, Acevedo filed a lawsuit against the city for wrongful termination, claiming he was fired for reporting abuses of power.
Before his March 2021 hiring in South Florida, Acevedo ran the Houston Police Department for nearly five years. He was the Austin police chief right before that.
Acevedo had some positive moments that were balanced with some glaring negatives while in Houston.
Under his direction, the chief oversaw the numerous rescues during Hurricane Harvey and voiced the need for several changes in the department, especially in the wake of George Floyd's death.
However, he was the chief when the botched Harding Street raid in 2019 left a black eye on the department.
SEE MORE: Looking back at moments from Chief Acevedo's career as he leaves Houston
