Art Acevedo is resigning from his position after 13 months leading the Aurora, Colo., Police Department, setting the city up for its fifth new police chief in as many years. Acevedo joined Aurora in December 2022 and will leave Monday. He said he had hoped to stay in Aurora for two to three years and had been in discussions with city leaders over the past few weeks about “losing the interim title,” but that he wants to return to Texas to be with his family. reports the Denver Post. . Each time he watched ed a video of his son wrestling without him there, he knew where his heart was and that he wanted to get back home. “Family has to come first,” he said. “It’s hard to leave because this is a special city.”
Acevedo led the department during a tumultuous time as the police agency reeled after Elijah McClain’s killing, worked to comply with court-mandated reforms under a consent decree, and saw significant turnover in its chiefs. He was at the helm when Aurora officers fatally shot 14-year-old Jor’Dell Richardson as they attempted to arrest him on June 1. The Aurora Police Department has seen four different leaders in the last five years. Chief Nick Metz, who retired in 2019, was followed by Chief Vanessa Wilson, who was controversially fired in April 2022. Former Chief Dan Oates briefly came out of retirement to head the department until Acevedo was hired as interim in December 2022 after a failed hiring process to find a permanent replacement. City Manager Jason Batchelor named interim Deputy Chief Heather Morris as the next interim chief. Acevedo brought Morris into the Aurora Police Department in April after the pair previously worked together in Houston and Miami.