Aurora names new interim police chief Art Acevedo after stints in Austin, Houston & Miami

Aurora will soon have a new interim police chief after months of a search that was held up when the latest candidates withdrew.

Art Acevedo will take over as interim chief in early December, the city said in a statement Tuesday. Acevedo will transition over the next few weeks, coming from being the top cop in Miami. Prior to that, he served as police chief in Austin, Texas and Houston.

He'll make $9,615 per pay period, or just shy of $250,000 per year, according to a copy of his employment agreement provided by the city.

Acevedo was suspended and then fired by the city of Miami last year after he called out alleged corruption in the city commission, city manager and police department. He has since filed a lawsuit over his firing.

Nonetheless, Acevedo remains a large figure in policing, having led several organizations and initiatives devoted to policing and disaster relief.

"Chief Acevedo has been a fixture in the national law enforcement community for years and has been vocal about needed and measured improvements in policing and public safety across the country," City Manager Jim Twombly said in a statement. "We are honored that he reached out to us, eager to assist us with the ongoing public safety changes we have been implementing."

"I am extremely grateful for Interim Chief Oates," Twombly continued. "We wish he could stay but knew his time with us would be brief. He came out of retirement and returned to Aurora this summer. In that short time, he stabilized APD and brought a renewed focus to crime reduction, community engagement and internal leadership in line with the consent decree."

Oates will move back to his home in Florida once the transition is complete.

"It has been an honor and privilege to serve Aurora again," he said in a statement. "I am proud of how far the department has come during my six months here, and I am confident that our dedicated police officers will build upon that progress under the steady leadership of Chief Acevedo. His arrival is a win for the department and the community."

"Aurora reminds me of Houston. Both cities are incomparably diverse and culturally rich," Acevedo said. "As a bilingual Cuban American born in Cuba and raised in the U.S., I am intimately familiar with the challenges facing diverse communities like Aurora, and I applaud the city's simultaneous efforts to tackle crime and implement public safety changes to better reflect the people it serves."

The Aurora Police Department has experienced controversies among the leadership over the past few years, including difficulty finding and retaining a chief.

Early last month, the city said it will continue to recruit candidates for the position of chief. This comes after two months of searching for a new top officer and narrowing it down to two finalists. Those candidates withdrew from consideration.

Earlier this month, Oates was criticized for rejecting the findings of an internal review board when it recommended he discipline a close associate for conduct unbecoming of an officer.

And the city's previous chief, Vanessa Wilson, recently announced her intention to sue the city over her firing, claiming it was a political move.

Acevedo was seen in Aurora Tuesday evening at the scene of a shooting that occurred Friday on Zion Street.

At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Twombly, Acevedo and Oates will hold a brief, in-person news conference at the Aurora Municipal Center. Visit CBSColorado.com to watch it live.