While the government of the City of Austin has been historically left wing,  the latest action by city commisars is so out of left field it’s in the parking lot.

That action being the rehiring of controversial former Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo.  Under Acevedo’s tenure in Austin, APD enacted civil rights violating “No refusal weekends” during which a police officer, not EMTs, drew blood from DUI suspects. The move was affectionately titled Vampire Cops. He also spearheaded the implantation of fusion centers that have been proven to not be effective in stopping organized crime despite spying on the general population without warrants.

It wasn’t just liberals that Acevado managed to antagonize.  Acevedo’s stance against the Second Amendment struck nerves with conservative such as his active pushback against the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature when it legalized the open carry of firearms in 2015. He also championed a gun buyback program where the city offered giftcards for well under the value of the firearms in exchange to surrendering them to be destroyed.

Law enforcement response to the public also nose dived during Acevedo’s tenure.  Often times APD Officers would refuse to respond to felony crimes, labeling them as “civil matters” and even refusing to take police reports, a decade before the national police defund movement.   One could argue this policy change directly motivated the defund movement.  On top of which during this period the Austin Police Department was conducting controversial arrests of individuals that didn’t even commit crimes that warranted such treatment or even crimes at all.  One such arrest was of a jogger jaywalking in the West Campus neighborhood  of Austin next The University of Texas.  Not only did the video of the arrest go viral nationwide but also Acevedo’s comments stating “the jogger was lucky she wasn’t sexually assaulted by his officers comparing the conduct of the arresting officers to that of police officer in other cities.”  It was so inflammatory, Acevedo was forced to apologize for his comments shortly after.  Another was the unlawful DUI arrest of Austin resident Trevor Titman who had a BAC of 0.00 who was held in jail for 26 hours and to spend thousands of dollars to have his name cleared.  Due to the unlawful arrest, and APD refusing to had over the evidence and police report, Titman ended up suing not only Acevedo but also the City of Austin.

Acevedo shut down APD’s in house DNA Crime lab not only because of untrained staff, but also because the lab did not adhere to State of Texas Standards with regards to forensic DNA contamination.  Test had to be outsourced to either labs run by the Texas Department of Public Safety or private companies that met state standards.  APD’s lab could not be reopened due to the Texas Forensic Science Commission finding the lab was using outdated methods for DNA analysis and expired mixtures.  This included hundreds of rape kits that could not be used.

Like the character Douglass Neidermeyer from cult classic “National Lampoons Animal House,”  Acevedo wasn’t even liked by his own officers.  Acevedo was also criticized on multiple occasions by the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas or CLEAT. None of this sat well with conservative firebrand Don Zimmerman when he served on the Austin City Council between 2014-16.  Zimmerman made it his mission to have both Art Acevedo and then Austin City Manager replaced. Acevedo’s legacy endures to this day where APD has continued to deteriorate to the point that former R Travis County Sheriff and Republican Texas House Member Terry Keel advocated for replacing APD with a division of the Texas DPS.

Acevedo saw the writing on the wall and left his position as APD Chief to take the position of Chief of the Houston Police Department in 2016.  With a change of scenery you would think Acevedo would use this as a catalyst to amend his ways.  Instead he picked up right where he left off by attacking Republican Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn in 2019 claiming the senators were more beholden to the NRA than law enforcement  and pushed for federal gun control legislation. ln 2020 Acevedo was documented stirring up the George Floyd rioters, marching with the protestors against police and inflaming racial tensions  along with supporting illegal immigrants.  He also told President Trump,  Please, keep your mouth shut if you can’t be constructive.  Meanwhile under Acevedo’s watch during the lockdowns, home burglaries were up 20%.  Under Acevedo’s leadership, HPD fell into shambles not scene since the early 90s under then Mayer Kathy Whitmire.   Houston was such a crime haven and dying city at that time it was used to depict post-apocalyptic Detroit for “RoboCop 2” It was this state of HPD that lead to the election of Mayor Bob Lanier who during his terms from 1992-98 rebuilt HPD and made the City of Houston safe again.  HPD was so decimated by Acevedo that it would not surprise anyone that Mayor Lanier is rolling over in his grave.  Even though Acevedo left his post at HPD in 2021 to become chief of the Miami Florida Police Department, HPD has yet to recover and still suffers from low morale which incoming Mayor and former Dean of the Texas Senate John Whitmire says he hopes to address.

As for Acevedo’s tenure in Miami,it only lasted six months before he was fired.  He quickly lost confidence in his officer at MPD, abused and did not report PTO or vacation time, made unauthorized comments on COVID-19 vaccine requirements, and claimed the City of Miami was run by “the Cuban Mafia.” The interim police chief that directly replaced Acevedo, Manual Morales stated to NBC News, “It boils down to the systematic demoralization of the police department that has been a result of [Acevedo’s] leadership style.” The following year Acevedo ended up suing the City of Miami Florida over the termination claiming, “he was fired for being a Whistleblower.”

With this baggage why would the City of Austin rehire Art Acevedo as Interim City Manager of APD  especially with his past history of decimating and demoralizing police departments and the fact his was subpoenaed to testify in the federal wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Houston for a botched drug raid during his tenure as HPD chief which is only the latest lawsuit a city is facing directly because of Acevedo.  The newly created position where Acevedo serves as a liaison between APD and City Manager Jesus Garza has a salary of $271,000.  With all the controversy surrounding defunding police departments and officer shortages Acevedo’s salary could be better spent funding hiring four new APD officers who’s base pay at the time of this publication was around $65,000.

Acevedo’s hiring was not only a surprise to the citizen’s of Austin, but also to the members of the City Council as well. Council Member Ryan Alter,  told Austin ABC affiliate KVUE-TV. “There were real problems that happened under his watch. To bring him back … Doesn’t honor the victims and the work that had to be done after he left.”  He went on to state on Twitter/X, “I was very surprised by this news and share many of the concerns expressed throughout the community. I want to do everything I can to make our police department the best in the nation, and I am still trying to understand how this hire at this time does that.”

Other current and former members of the Austin City Council also expressed no confidence in bringing Acevedo back.  Left-leaning former Council Member and 2024 Mayoral Candidate Kathie Tovo posted on Twitter/X, “Yet another controversial decision re. policing coming from the Watson-Garza administration with no input from our elected City Council – and even worse – none from our community. Austin deserves a new Mayor who values both.” Leftist Councilmember Paige Ellis posted on Twitter/X, “I am shocked by this decision, as Acevedo oversaw a department that caused rape kits to go untested for years and entrapped protestors, among other issues. I told [City Manager] Jesus Garza this is a bad call, and I guarantee that if it had come before council it would have a different outcome.”  In a prepared statement posted to Twitter/X by liberal Council Memeber Alison Alter, she stated, “For years I have been working with sexual assault survivors and advocates to address the consequences of the failures of Art Acevedo’s leadership at APD: the shuttering of the DNA lab, intentional misuse of exceptional clearance, multiple survivor lawsuits, and the understaffing of victim services and the sex crimes unit. Today’s announcement came as a shock, and I fear it erodes years of work to rebuild trust and to keep our community safe. I met with survivors and advocates today and this announcement is retraumatizing to many, especially pending the upcoming planned public apology to survivors as we mark the two-year anniversary of the settlement of the class action lawsuits by those whose cases were mishandled under Acevedo’s watch.”

The one Council member who was surprisingly in favor of the hire was Council member Mackenzie Kelly who is elected to the same conservative city district that was once served by Zimmerman.  In a prepared statement posted to Twitter/X, Kelly stated, “Councilwoman Kelly’s Statement regarding the Appointment of Art Acevedo as Interim Assistant City Manager During this critical time in our city, I would like to thank the Interim City Manager for proactively supporting the Austin Police Department. I am optimistic that Art Acevedo, as Interim Assistant City Manager, will bring additional experience, knowledge, and support to the department. I look forward to continued work with Interim Assistant City Manager Mills and his department on vital public safety initiatives. I’ve known Acevedo professionally for over a decade, and today, I spoke with him regarding his new role and expectations. I look forward to continuing our professional working relationship in his new role.” With Acevedo’s stance against the 2nd Amendment and against enforcing emigration laws, his statements against Republican lawmakers, the mismanagement of the police departments he was in charge of including the destruction of officer morale, it makes one question why Kelly supports his hire.

Something that should be pointed out is that Acevedo’s hiring more than likely requires the vote by city Council to be made official as required by State of Texas Law because in essence Acevedo’s job is just to oversee the police chief, which essentially makes Acevedo a second police chief as interpreted by 2024 uber-leftist Austin City Council candidate Mike Siegel.  Something that prominent Austin trial lawyer Adam Loewy agrees with.  Loewy went on to post, “This is also a massive insult to interim Chief [Robin] Henderson bc there are now basically two chiefs.”

At the end of the day, it appears that Acevedo will not have the votes to get hired if that is the case and that would only be a good thing for the City of Austin that it doesn’t fall victim once again to its own Mickey Mouse bureaucracy.  Acevedo has proven to be a disaster as head of major city police departments.  The City of Austin suffered with his leadership for nine years already.  It doesn’t need anymore.  His salary should be allocated to hiring more police officers which would benefit the city.  It will also be interesting to observe the political fallout for Acevedo’s return to Austin and how it will affect the forthcoming November elections.