Nobody but Art Acevedo

[The Annoyed Man]

My not very flattering opinions posted here earlier this morning: viewtopic.php?f=108&t=95113&p=1304009#p1304009.

Anybody who has read Matt Bracken's book "Castigo Cay" will recognize the irony of Acevedo as Miami's police chief. He’s in the book.....but just by another name.

[philip964]

https://www.click2houston.com/news/texa ... miami-job/

Everyone it just does not get better than this.

Miami mayor - he is the Tom Brady of police chiefs.

Edit sorry- and Michael Jordan

[MaduroBU]

This is great news.

[Rafe]

My not very flattering opinions posted here earlier this morning: viewtopic.php?f=108&t=95113&p=1304009#p1304009.

Anybody who has read Matt Bracken's book "Castigo Cay" will recognize the irony of Acevedo as Miami's police chief. He’s in the book.....but just by another name.

And I'm holding my breath to see how Miami's Cuban community will welcome him. Prodigal son returns, but he's a glowing shade of blue and is much more a egotistical politician than a law enforcement officer. Nationwide, only 38% of Cubans registered to vote in the U.S. identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party. And voter turnout among Cuban Americans has consistently been one of the highest among Hispanic eligible voter groups.

Welcome to Miami, Art. Your public may want a word with you about your values.

[MaduroBU]

Art's only priority is Art. For all of his bluster about caring for the community, it stops the second that it might require personal accountability. I will go ahead and assume that he's leaving before the ugly truth about Goines' corruption comes out.

[Rafe]

Our esteemed mayor Sylvester Turner is slated to announce Art "On the Road Again" Acevedo's successor as Houston chief of police. Stay tuned. I'm certain it will be a strong, no-nonsense law enforcement officer...someone like Wisconsin sheriff David Clarke Jr., for instance.

Yeah. I'll hold my breath...


He normally wears a cowboy hat, so he needs to come to Texas. In this photo Clarke is holding up a rifle that was presented to him as part of his Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire award at the 2015 CPAC convention.

What Sylvester Turner is going to give us will be a polar opposite, and violent crime in Houston will proceed unabated.

[Rafe]

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texa ... 036517.php

The new chief of the Houston Police Department is current executive assistant chief Troy Finner. I have no problem with promoting from within. But it does strike me that a city of this size, with the escalating violent crime that it has, might have done at least a week or two of due diligence to explore other options and candidates. Acevedo didn't know he was going to Miami until he flew there last weekend, do he couldn't have offered Turner his resignation any sooner. Today is Thursday; Acevedo gave his official notice just three days ago, on Monday.

In this afternoon's press conference, Sylvester Turner said: "I've had the opportunity to interview potential candidates for what I consider to be one of the most critical roles of any administration," Turner said. "My goal was to find someone who was fully capable, and I underscore fully, capable of leading this department from day one." So maybe he's referring to previous job search when selected Acevedo, and decided not to do another search at all. Dunno.

Finner was born in the Fifth Ward, grew up in Houston’s Hiram Clarke area, and graduated in Madison High School's class of 1985. He is the father of five, has been with HPD 30 years, and was a direct-report to Art Acevedo. The new chief may be a superb choice...but superficially it looks like a Version 2.0, let's-make-no-real-changes, very "safe" selection for mayor Turner politically.

Finner recently was quoted as saying, "Let me commend Mayor Sylvester Turner, he’s been through so much with other crises. He’s not a rookie at this and is doing an outstanding job,” Finner said. “And Sheila Jackson Lee, as she always does, has stood up tremendously getting more testing sites.... I am proud to serve with Chief Art Acevedo. Never underestimate his love for law enforcement and love for people."

Since he's not been a public politician before (a good thing, I think...other than in the above interview he named SJL at the drop of a hat), I don't know much about his ideologies otherwise. On the 2A front, he did once make a point that he has lost two of his nephews to "gun violence." But Finner at least knows Houston (which is certainly more than we could say about Acevedo when he arrived here), and all we can do is hope that the badge means more to Finner than his ego or any political aspirations, and that he has the grit to buck the mayor and city council when it needs to be done.

God Bless and Godspeed, Chief Finner. You have my complete support. Just don't blow it.

[Jusme]

Anyone who mentions SJL as an ally, duck and cover. JMHO

[srothstein]

This was a political appointment in every respect. Turner is trying to calm the unions down a little by promoting from within. I do not know of a police union that does not push for promote from within when looking for a new chief. And Finner was obviously a politician also. I don't know anything about him that is not posted above, but it certainly shows he is a politician. First, no one get to any appointed position (most upper management positions like assistant or deputy chief are appointed) in a police department without playing politics, at least within the department. In a large department, like HPD, they often use local politicians as connections to help them get promoted. By this, I mean not just being close to the politician, but having the politician call the agency to push for the person's promotion. And the statement, which must be from an earlier comment and not related to this appointment, clearly shows that Finner is a politician and knows who is the strength in the department that has to be kept happy.

The one thing it reveals that I was not aware of is how much political power SJL has within the HPD and city management. I knew that as a congresscritter, she had some power and especially as such a long serving official, obviously she had some power. I did not think it was enough to get that kind of mention in public by an ambitious senior officer.

It also reveals that Acevedo's move to Miami was only a public surprise. It clearly was not a surprise to Turner or Finner. Acevedo set this up or Finner would not have been making those kinds of public statements. He must have briefed Turner on the application and helped pick a replacement or Turner would not have been this ready to make the announcement. To me, this does not bode very well for Houston or HPD, definitely more of an Acevedo Lite or Version 2.

[Ruark]

He probably went to Miami for the same reason he went to Houston from Austin: more money. He made $280K a year in Houston. In Miami he'll get $315K. That's an extra $2900 a month. He's also getting $50K for moving expenses.

[philip964]

https://news.yahoo.com/don-t-let-caroll ... 00585.html

Wow that didn’t take long.

Miami Councilmember already trying to get him booted out.

[philip964]

https://www.click2houston.com/news/loca ... port-says/

More from Houston’s news about Art’s troubles in Miami.

“ the Michael Jordan of police chiefs”

[philip964]

https://news.yahoo.com/latest-florida-e ... 58607.html

Police Union Vote or Poll about Art in Miami, that might hold his fate, someone from a computer in Kansas voted for Art 500 times.

[flechero]

Miami’s 1,300 sworn officers were asked to vote on whether they’d lost confidence in the chief and if he should retain his job.

THey should have just submitted their paper vote into a box as they came to or left work... seems that an online vote for a local dept is just asking for help from out of precinct, town, state.

[philip964]

https://news.yahoo.com/police-chief-hot ... 59390.html

Mayor no where to be found during Art grilling by commissioners.

Video of him doing cha cha cha in Houston presented? Did I get that right?