Aurora Police Chief Art Acevedo, who has led the department for more than a year, is leaving the city at a crucial time.

The city is in the middle of implementing sweeping changes to its policing and still reeling from recent court rulings that found its paramedics and a police officer guilty of several charges over the death of Elijah McClain. But he’s also leaving just as the city began to see significant improvement in fighting crime.

Acevedo’s last day with Aurora is Jan. 22, the city said. 

Amid difficult challenges, several of which he inherited, Aurora’s violent and property crime rates, notably car theft, went down. Officials attributed the declines to Acevedo’s strategies. 

Acevedo, who began serving as interim chief on Dec. 5, 2022, will return to Texas to be with his family, he said.  

“I thought I would be here two to three years, but I miss my kid. I miss my family,” Acevedo said, tearing up. “Every time I get a video of my kid wrestling and I’m not there … I can’t be without my boy.”

Leaving was a “difficult decision to make,” but he wants to go home and be a father, and moving his family to Aurora isn’t an option right now, he said. 

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said it’s a “sad day for Aurora,” saying Acevedo set the city on a positive trajectory by strategizing to bring down crime rates and offering leadership to a police department that is under a consent decree with the state.

Acevedo said the consent decree turned out to be a “blessing” to the department, despite initial feelings that it brought out an “us versus them mentality.” 

The city entered into the consent decree with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office in 2021 to implement changes to policing, notably in the use of force and how officers engage with residents. The process was prompted by the death of 23-year-old McClain, who died after an encounter with officers in 2019 as he walked home from a convenience store.

In a statement, City Manager Jason Batchelor said Acevedo has served the city with “passion and professionalism.”

“Since Day One, Chief Acevedo has carried out this role with the vision, purpose and conviction of a permanent chief,” Batchelor said in a news release. “He brought passion and unparalleled experience and knowledge to his work every day. I am confident in the direction he has set for the agency and its leadership.”

In the same news release, Acevedo said he is grateful for the “unwavering dedication of the exceptional men and women of the Aurora Police Department.”

“Serving as Chief of Police alongside the current leadership team has been an honor. Together, we have achieved significant progress in this remarkable, diverse and welcoming community. I carry with me immense pride in the positive impact we have had. Aurora will forever remain a part of me,” he said. 

The city will tap Interim Deputy Chief Heather Morris as interim chief on Jan. 22, saying she will provide “continuity and stability for the agency,” while working toward public safety goals.

Aurora has long struggled to find a permanent chief for its police force. In the last go round, just before officials picked Acevedo, the city faced a difficult time attracting candidates. The city said officials will discuss next steps for identifying a new permanent police chief in the coming weeks.

City officials praised Acevedo, saying he ushered in best practices and focused on accountability, adding his strategies contributed to notable decreases in crime across the city, including violent crime, car theft and residential burglaries. 

They noted that Aurora’s crime rate in 2023. Statistics from the police department showed violent crime went down 14.5% compared to the year before. Notably, the robberies took a nosedive — down 33% — while murders decreased 12%. 

In addition, the city’s motor vehicle theft also went down 24%. 

All told, crime incidents went down to 17,521 in 2023, compared to 19,929 in 2022. And, compared to 2021, last year’s numbers in all crime categories, such as sex assault and burglary, showed a marked improvement. 

During the news briefing on Friday, Acevedo called the Aurora police team “phenomenal.”

“They’re putting in the work,” Acevedo said. “They have the right mindset, the right intellect, but most importantly they have the right heart.”

While he is leaving the Aurora police, he isn’t retiring, he said. 

“I’m 59 years old and still full of energy,” Acevedo said. “I love being a cop. My happy place is with cops, around cops, serving the community.”

Acevedo’s looming departure is not a complete surprise. When the city tapped him for the job late in 2022, he committed to serve for at least six months and up to a year.   

“I absolutely love crime fighting,” he said at the time, adding he “cannot wait to get back in those police cars with y’all, working patrol, checking out dark alleys, going to the hot shots, the calls and really keeping the community safe.”

Prior to moving to Aurora, Acevedo served as police chief in Austin and Houston in Texas, and most recently in Miami. Acevedo, who is bilingual, was born in Cuba and grew up in California. He spent 14 years all told as a police chief in Austin and in Houston. He also spent 21 years with the California Highway Patrol and began his career as a patrol officer in East Los Angeles in 1986.

He drew national attention while working in Houston as a reform-minded chief who marched alongside protesters in the wake of George Floyd’s death. He has also been hailed for his response during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Acevedo was hired with fanfare to serve as Miami’s chief of police in 2021 but was fired six months later. He sued the city earlier this year, alleging his termination was retaliation for whistleblowing.

Acevedo accepted the Aurora job knowing that he was inheriting leadership of a department under a microscope, not to mention challenges in recruitment and in navigating its relationship with Denver. 

Last year, Aurora filed a lawsuit asking for the Denver District Court to require Denver to pay legal fees, settlements and jury awards in lawsuits that include Aurora arising out of the 2020 protests sparked by Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. Aurora sought enforcement of an agreement and state law that the city said obligates an agency requesting law enforcement aid from other jurisdictions to pay the costs of claims arising from the aid provided.

While he inherited problems, Acevedo, in a way, anticipated the issues he would face as Aurora police chief.      

In November 2022, just before he officially became interim chief, Acevedo said he feels as if the public sometimes expects the standard of perfection in policing. Officers have to process situations at lightning speed, he said.

“Even in the most tragic situations, the officers are not making mistakes of the heart, they are making mistakes of the mind. It’s not TV. They don’t get a second or third take. It’s not Hollywood,” he said.

Acevedo would find himself delivering the same message following high-profile cases, notably in the case of 14-year-old Jor’Dell Richardson, who was shot and killed by a police officer last June. The district attorney later concluded the officer was legally justified in using deadly force against Richardson, who had a pellet gun on him.

“That is not a toy,” Acevedo had said at a news conference in June. “What’s the purpose of these replicas? What legitimate role do they play? And we have a 14-year-old kid dead.”

Previous reporting by Julia Cardi was added to this article.