Adios, Chief Acevedo?

City of Austin

During a press conference, he stated he was contacted several weeks ago by the Police Executive Research Forum, who encouraged him to apply for the Dallas position. He submitted his resume over this past weekend and, soon after, learned he was among six finalists.

These finalists include the police chiefs of San Jose, California and Louisville, Kentucky, as well as three assistant police chiefs from within the Dallas Police Department.

Acevedo was appointed Austin Police Chief in July 2007, and is the first Hispanic to lead Austin's police force. During his tenure he was never under contract with the city, which he acknowledged as standard for big city police chiefs.

However, it seems that neither lack of contract, nor the possible salary offered (his base salary being $171,040 when he started in 2007 according to a City of Austin release) is the major cause for him to consider a move to North Texas.

"The bottom line is most major city police chiefs don't have contracts, and the tenure of most chiefs is three-to-five years, and I'm approaching those marks," he said in the press conference.

While the news came as a surprise to City Hall, a few officials there have already shown their support of Acevedo. Mayor Lee Leffingwell told KVUE, "He's done a great job here in Austin. . . Part of me doesn't want him to get the job, because we'd like to keep him. He's been here three years and he really is the face of APD at this point."

The selection process, which will involve those responsible for the Dallas decision heading to Austin for an on-site interview, should begin in a couple of weeks.

For now, though, Austin still has a police chief.