Isiah Factor Uncensored - meet Chief Art Acevedo

HOUSTON, TX - "Leadership is about being on the frontlines, and leadership is about being with the community--building that transparency and that trust," said HPD Chief Art Acevedo.  

In a candid interview with FOX 26's Isiah Carey, new HPD chief Art Acevedo discussed that one of his top goals is to "take a hard look at how we investigate our officer-involved shootings." Acevedo continued, "I’d rather have my homicide detectives focused on one thing that’s bringing murderers to justice and justice to the victims and their families.

It's that personal touch that Acevedo hopes to bring to Houston. He will stress community policing, viewing each interaction between police and the public as an opportunity to connect.  He says he also plans to survey all the officers and employees to get input about any needed changes. He says there will be no dramatic shifts, but he's on board with District Attorney Elect Kim Ogg's proposal to not arrest people for low-level marijuana possession.

“Taking a guy to jail for two ounces of marijuana, in the meantime, while you are booking that person spending an hour or two booking him, we have a home invasion robbery going on. We're going to prioritize saving lives.” Acevedo said. However he does plan to crack down on the kush epidemic.

Acevedo praised this generation of officers saying they are more scrutinized now than ever. He says 99 percent of them are good, but the one percent that's not can do a lot of damage and they won't be tolerated.  He says when HPD patrol officers hit the streets, hey won't go alone.

“I still work patrol. Some critics will say 'he's just hot dogging'. No. I work patrol because I want to stay close to what matters most,” Acevedo said.

Despite friction between the police departments around the country, Acevedo insists the police system in this country isn’t broken,  He says it’s imperfect, but not broken.