Hubert Arturo Acevedo (born July 31, 1964) is an American public official and former police officer who most recently served as the interim chief of police in

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, counti ...

. Prior to this, he served as the chief of police in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, and

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. Acevedo began his law enforcement career with the

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is the principal state police agency for the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary jurisdiction, including patrol and Criminal investigation, investigations, over all California Controlled-access highw ...

Background and education

Acevedo was born in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. immigrating to the United States at age four with his family in 1968. His father was a police officer in Havana. Acevedo grew up in El Monte,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1985. He attended Rio Hondo College, graduating in 1986 with an

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

. In 2005, Acevedo graduated from

University of La Verne The University of La Verne (ULV) is a private university in La Verne, California. Founded in 1891, the university is composed of the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Business & Public Management, the LaFetra College of Education, College o ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

Career

California Highway Patrol

Acevedo began his career as a field patrol officer in

East Los Angeles East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as ...

with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in 1986 after graduation from their training academy. He rose to the rank of chief with CHP in 2005. 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. 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.

Austin Police Department

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. Freeman appealed the firing, reaching a settlement in December 2016 that awarded him $35,000 and allowed him to work for other police departments. In April 2016, Acevedo was officially reprimanded and punished by the

City Manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...

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. During his time in Austin, Acevedo appeared on '' The Alex Jones Show'' to discuss policing on multiple occasions. On January 19, 2024, news broke that Art Acevedo would be returning to Austin to act as "interim city manager over APD", with a salary of US$271,000 / year. Mayor Kirk Watson said Acevedo "would help to strengthen the relationship between City Hall and the police as well as with the community". The following day, Travis County DA Jose Garza and others raised strong objections to hiring Acevedo for the newly created city position. Garza said Acevedo's "return is a step backwards for survivors of sexual assault." His remarks were made at an event honoring sexual assault survivors, some of whom had sued the city for failing to properly investigate sexual assaults during Acevedo's tenure as Austin Police Chief. News of his return "clearly irked" half of City Council members and "stunned" the sexual assault survivors. On January 23 Acevedo wrote on social media that he would no longer be taking the job, saying the new job had become a distraction.

Houston Police Department

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 Charles A. McClelland Jr. was the police chief of the Houston Police Department (HPD) from 2010 through 2016. Joining the department in May 1977, McClelland worked his way up through the ranks, from rookie to assistant chief in 1998,Michael Bennett for shoving a security guard at

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confe ...

, Acevedo gave a press conference where he called Bennett "morally corrupt." Charges against Bennett were dropped in 2019. In January 2019, HPD officers conducted the Harding Street raid, a no-knock raid that resulted in the deaths of two homeowners (Regina Nicholas and Dennis Tuttle) and injury of five officers. The basis for the raid, that the couple were heroin dealers, later turned out to be false. Acevedo initially refused to release an audit of the Narcotics Division, which had revealed widespread problems in the division. The scandal was described by ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'' reporters as "one of the worst to hit HPD in years." 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. In June 2020, Nicholas’ brother, John, penned a ''Houston Chronicle'' editorial titled, “What about Harding Street raid? Acevedo,

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...

give soundbites on police brutality but stay silent about my sister’s death.” John Nicholas and Tuttle family sued the City of Houston the following year. In January 2024, Acevedo said he'd been served with a subpoena to testify in the federal lawsuit and that he was "looking forward to providing testimony". Acevedo received national attention for his public statements in support of meaningful reform in the wake of the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

, paired with significant criticisms for a lack of action locally to reduce police violence and increase transparency. 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. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, murders rose significantly in

, 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. 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.

Miami Police Department

In March 2021, Acevedo announced that he would leave the HPD to become chief of police of the Miami Police Department.

Francis Suarez Francis Xavier Suarez ( ; born October 6, 1977) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 43rd List of mayors of Miami, mayor of Miami since 2017. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he previousl ...

, the mayor of

, compared the hiring to "getting the

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New Engla ...

or the

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

of police chiefs." Acevedo was sworn into the position in Miami on April 5, 2021. In June 2021, Acevedo posed for a photo with Gabriel Garcia, a leader within the extremist right-wing group the

Proud Boys The Proud Boys is an American far-right politics, far-right, Neo-fascism, neo-fascist militant organization that promotes and engages in political violence.Far-right: * * Fascist: * * * * * Men only: * * * Political violence and militancy: ...

. Acevedo claimed he wasn't aware of Garcia's background when he posed for the picture. 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 The government of the city of Miami, Florida, is organized under the municipal charter, City Charter, which provides for a Mayor-council government, mayor-commissioner form of Local government, city government. Organization City Commission and ...

. 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. He was fired on October 14, 2021.

Aurora Police Department

On November 15, 2022, the city of

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

announced that they would appoint Acevedo as interim chief of the Aurora Police Department. On January 19, 2024, Acevedo announced his resignation as Acting Police Chief, effecting January 22.

Political views

In January 2020, Acevedo described himself as a registered Republican during his time in California, but a "lifelong RINO," or "Republican In Name Only," usually a pejorative reference to iconoclastic or otherwise non-conservative views. In the same interview, he addressed his outspokenness on gun violence and reiterated his support for the

Violence Against Women Act The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law (Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, ) signed by President Bill Clinton on September13, 1994. The Act provided $1.6billion toward investigat ...

and openness to

decriminalization Decriminalization or decriminalisation is the legislative process which removes prosecutions against an action so that the action remains illegal but has no criminal penalties or at most some civil fine. This reform is sometimes applied retroacti ...

of some drugs. During the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Acevedo acknowledged that policing in the United States has had a "disparate treatment and impact on disenfranchised communities — especially communities of color and poor communities," but resisted calls to

defund the police In the United States, "defund the police" is a slogan advocating for reallocating funds from police departments to non-policing forms of public safety and community support initiatives, such as social services, youth programs, housing, education, ...

. During the subsequent protests in Houston, Acevedo was seen in a video telling protesters "pay close attention because these little white guys with their skateboards are the ones who are starting all the shit." He later doubled down on those comments during a news conference, saying, "We’re seeing that there are people, who are not people of color, who are coming into this city and other cities to actually start agitating and actually engaging in violence." The President of the Houston

Fraternal Order of Police The National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is a fraternal organization consisting of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It reports a membership of over 355,000 members organized in 2,100 local chapters (lodges), state lodge ...

criticized the remark, and local news outlet KPRC claimed to fail to substantiate Acevedo's claims noting that the group of arrested people was racially diverse and from the Houston area. Acevedo appeared in a video shown on the opening night of the

2020 Democratic National Convention The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtual ...

, which also featured Democratic presidential nominee

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

, activist

Jamira Burley Jamira Burley is a human rights activist and social impact strategist. She is currently the Head of Youth Engagement and Skills at the Global Business Coalition for Education a Summit and an MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow. Early life Burley grew ...

, activist

Gwen Carr Gwen Carr (born 1949) is an American activist, public speaker, and author. Carr's son, Killing of Eric Garner, Eric Garner, was killed by a New York Police Department officer who used a prohibited chokehold to arrest Garner. Since her son's death, ...

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

President Derrick Johnson, and

Chicago Mayor The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and ...

Lori Lightfoot Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American politician and attorney who was the mayor of Chicago#List of mayors, 56th mayor of Chicago from 2019 until 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Acevedo, Art Houston Police Department chiefs Chiefs of the Miami Police Department California Highway Patrol Living people People from El Monte, California University of La Verne alumni 1964 births Naturalized citizens of the United States Cuban emigrants to the United States Hispanic and Latino American people