Miami Will Fire Police Chief Who Likened Leaders to Cuban Dictators

U.S.|Miami Will Fire Police Chief Who Likened Leaders to Cuban Dictators

MIAMI — Back successful March, erstwhile Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami revealed that the metropolis would bring connected Art Acevedo, the Houston constabulary chief, to caput its Police Department, Mr. Suarez told the section newspaper that the prosecute was “like getting the Tom Brady oregon the Michael Jordan of constabulary chiefs.”

His prima prime lasted hardly six months.

On Monday, Miami officials said they had decided to suspend Chief Acevedo with the intent to terminate him, showing the main the doorway aft a contentious tenure successful which helium clashed with almighty elected commissioners who laid retired their grievances against him in a bid of City Hall meetings that often devolved into spectacle.

“The narration betwixt the main and the enactment has go untenable and needed to beryllium resolved promptly,” Art Noriega, the metropolis manager, said successful a statement. “Relationships betwixt employers and employees travel down to acceptable and enactment benignant and unfortunately, Chief Acevedo is not the close acceptable for this organization.”

Chief Acevedo made a bid of decisions and comments that enraged commissioners, including dismissing oregon demoting respective of the department’s apical officers, investigating a City Hall sergeant-at-arms and posing for a selfie astatine a pro-Cuban ideology protestation with a salient subordinate of the Proud Boys, whom the main said helium did not know.

The main besides said the Police Department was being tally by a “Cuban mafia” — arsenic a joke, helium said — and aboriginal compared the absorption of commissioners to his actions to “the repressive authorities and constabulary state” of Communist Cuba. A bulk of commissioners are Cuban American, arsenic is Chief Acevedo, though helium grew up successful California, not successful the Cuban exile stronghold of South Florida.

Mr. Noriega had initially required Chief Acevedo to taxable an betterment program of sorts, which the main did. But astatine slightest 1 metropolis commissioner declared that measurement insufficient. It had been wide for weeks that Chief Acevedo had ne'er won implicit commissioners, who had been taken aback by his astonishment hiring. Mr. Noriega did not powerfully support Chief Acevedo earlier the committee astatine its meetings. Mr. Suarez did not amusement up astatine all.

Chief Acevedo has not spoken publically arsenic his tenure unraveled implicit the past weeks, contempt his outspoken nature. (His nationalist illustration came successful portion from his predominant Twitter posts.) He thanked the section successful a missive connected Monday evening.

“It has been a privilege serving with you and warring for you,” helium wrote, according to a transcript of the missive posted online by WPLG, the section ABC News station.

Chief Acevedo had accused respective metropolis commissioners of improperly meddling successful unit decisions, and helium did not backmost distant from that presumption successful his memo.