MIAMI — Art Acevedo, the nationally recognized police chief who oversaw the Austin Police Department as well as the Houston Police Department, has been suspended with the intention of firing by the City of Miami after just six months on the job.

What You Need To Know

  • Art Acevedo has been suspended with the intention of firing after just six months on the job as chief of police in Miami

  • Acevedo was previously chief of police in Austin and Houston 

  • According to reports, Acevedo's tenure in Miami was stormy. He accused city officials of meddling in police department as well as internal affairs investigations 

  • Miami City Manager Art Noriega said Acevedo "is not the right fit for this organization"

Acevedo’s tenure in Florida was tumultuous. His suspension, according to the Associated Press, came after he accused city officials of meddling in police department and internal affairs investigations.

Miami City Manager Art Noriega said in a statement Monday that he suspended Acevedo with the intent to terminate his employment.

“The relationship between the Chief and the organization has become untenable and needed to be resolved promptly,” Noriega said. “Chief Acevedo is not the right fit for this organization.”

Acevedo was recruited by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who earlier this year hailed him as “America’s best chief.” He was seen as a progressive law enforcer who headed the police department in Houston, but also shared ancestry with hundreds of thousands Cubans in Miami, as a Havana-born refugee.

Acevedo was sworn in in April and began making waves almost immediately by taking over internal affairs and making significant changes to his command staff. He demoted four majors and fired two high-level police officials — a married couple — because they weren’t truthful about a crash involving a city-issued SUV.

At two raucous meetings over the past month, commissioners attacked Acevedo and his leadership, appointing themselves to an investigative committee with subpoena power to examine his appointment.

At one of those meetings, videos were played of Acevedo impersonating Elvis Presley dancing the “Jailhouse Rock” in the iconic white jumpsuit and entering a dance floor of a fundraiser, slapping a woman’s rear with a piece of paper. At another meeting, city commissioner Joe Carollo asked to be arrested right there by him if it was true the new police chief had proof that he and other politicians were interfering with internal affairs investigations.

Miami City Commissioner Manolo Reyes told WSVN-TV that “the only thing we asked for him was to be a chief. Not to be a politician. Not to be a critic for any elected official, the judges and the state attorney. Just to do his job as a chief.”

In an eight-page memo sent by Acevedo to the city manager and mayor before those meetings, Acevedo stated that Carollo and the other commissioners were interfering with internal affairs investigations, and improperly ordering police resources to be deployed against certain establishments “based on nothing more than the whims of commissioners.” He also accused the commissioners of hampering his reform mandate by eliminating positions.

Commissioner Joe Carollo, a Cuban politician, and the other two Cuban Americans, have said they were deeply offended when reports emerged last month that Acevedo talked to officers about a “Cuban mafia” that runs the city. He later apologized, saying he didn’t know that was a term former Cuban leader Fidel Castro used to refer to exiles.

“He must be the only individual of Cuban background in the world who doesn’t know that,” Carollo said. “You are not in the middle of the Amazon.”

Among other things, the city commissioners alleged that Acevedo has been hypocritical for firing officers for some of the things he is accused of doing.

Carollo, the most vocal politician opposing Acevedo’s leadership, scrutinized an older photo where the police chief was seen using a “white power” hand gesture similar to the OK hand sign, saying a Miami officer was relieved of duty by Acevedo after being accused of using the same gesture.

Carollo and another commissioner are also scrutinizing damage seen on Acevedo’s SUV they claim was not properly reported. They say that was similar to the incident that led to Acevedo’s firing of the husband and wife police officers.

Assistant Police Chief Manny Morales will take over as interim chief while the city searches for a permanent replacement.

An earlier version of this story indicated Acevedo has been fired. This has been corrected on all platforms to reflect that he has been suspended with the intention of firing.