Houston police chief gets new job in Miami

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) – Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo is leaving
Texas for a new job in Miami, Florida.

KPRC 2 News reports that Acevedo sent an email  to Houston police officers Sunday night informing them that he’ll be introduced Monday morning as the new police chief in Miami.  Houston Police Officers Union President Douglas Griffith confirmed the news  saying,”We appreciate his service to Houston and wish him the best in Miami.”

Acevedo was the police chief in Austin for about 9 years before leading the Houston police department for more than four years.

“I can say leaving will truly be bittersweet,” Acevedo said in the email to HPD. “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.”

The Miami Herald reports  that Acevedo will be the city’s fifth chief during the past decade.   The Miami police department has about 1,400 officers compared to HPD’s 5,400-member force.

Mayor Francis Suarez told the Miami Herald, “I think this is like getting the Tom Brady or the Michael Jordan of police chiefs.”

Acevedo was born in Havana and his father was a Cuban police officer.  The family emigrated to the United States in 1968 and lived in California. He served in the California Highway Patrol before moving to Austin in 2007 to take over APD.

Acevedo explained in his email to the Houston Police Department that he “was not looking for this opportunity when it arose, but with the end of Mayor 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.”