One on one with Police Chief Art Acevedo about police reform - What's Your Point?

HOUSTON - As America wrestles with the plague of racial injustice, the voice of Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo has been one of conciliation.

Acevedo told FOX 26 he is not opposed to the establishment of civilian review boards with subpoena power to oversee complaints against police. ‘You know I’m not afraid of that, but just keep in mind as long as I, as the Police Chief, can still make my decisions. Because what people don’t realize is that a lot of time these civilian panels are actually softer and more forgiving on these police officers than the police chief would be, so it’s a double-edged sword. We have to be thoughtful about it,” said Acevedo. Nearly a year and a half after the disastrous Hardy Street, Acevedo says HPD’s near-total moratorium on “no-knock” warrants since should become the law of the land and a significant response to the call for reform. “We had never had a bad experience with no-knock warrants. We have done several thousand over the years without any major mishaps, but I didn’t wait on the second one to go wrong. We are going to err on the side of public safety and yes we think that should be a national standard” said Acevedo.

More from this week's What's Your Point