In a abrupt about-face, Former Austin Texas Police Chief Art Acevedo withdrawals from consideration to return to work for the taxpayers of Austin.  As The Hayride previously reported Acevedo’s previous tenures as not only the police chief of Austin, but also of Houston Texas and Miami Florida were checked at best.  Acevedo also was fired from MPD after only six months due to a number of leadership failures which included destroying the morale of the department something he has also accomplished during his tenures in Houston and Austin.

It was with this checkered history that there was of  significant concern regarding Acevedo returning to work for the City of Austin in an administrate position created seemingly specifically for him with a yearly salary of $271,000.  One of Acevedo’s many failures as Chief of APD was under his tenure the department bungled many sexual assault cases which included DNA contamination of the rape kits used to collect evidence as well as a forensic crime lab that was forced to shut down and APD having to outsource DNA analysis to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

At least half of the Austin City Council came out against the rehiring of Acevedo, especially since the process was done largely in secret and that the council members only found out about the offer to Acevedo when the public found out about it.  The public sentiment against Acevedo was so strong that someone had purchased the domain name artacevedo,com and had it linked to our previously published article on the subject.  The former police chief saw the writing on the wall and decided to withdrawal himself from consideration for the position.

It is a shocking turn of events and also demonstrates a rare time in Austin Texas politics where liberals and conservatives have largely come together in agreement on a single topic.  It should also be pointed out that this lead to a swift turn of events with a desirable result.  Maybe it’s a lesson we should all learn from.