HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — With the move to Miami, Art Acevedo will become the head of a police department that is much smaller than the Houston Police Department and has far less area to cover.
According to a Facebook post, Miami’s police chief resigned his position at the end of February.
Acevedo is expected to be named the new police chief of Miami during a press conference in Florida at 9 a.m. Houston time.
In terms of size, Houston covers 671 square miles, and Miami covers just 35.
That’s not the only thing smaller about Miami. When it comes to the total number of sworn officers and civilians, Houston dwarfs the Florida city.
Acevedo was in charge of 5,257 officers on the force in Houston, with another 895 civilian employees at the department.
ORIGINAL STORY: Police Chief Art Acevedo leaving Houston for Miami, officers’ union confirms
Miami has less than half that number of officers, just 1,300 and about 500 civilian employees.
However, Miami reports less crimes per capita than Houston does.
Houston is considered to have one of the highest crime rates in the nation with 56 crimes for every 1,000 residents.
Miami has a crime rate of 629 crimes for every 100,000 residents.
Miami has a history of hiring the chief of police from within the department, but this time they looked outside the department for its top cop.
“I’m sure whoever the new chief is going to be is going to take us to the next level,” Miami’s outgoing chief, Jorge Colina, said in his announcement that he was leaving.
Colina served on the Miami Police Department for 30 years.
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