Let's stop looking for public safety heroes & villains
Acevedo is a symptom of simplistic thinking on public safety.
Much of Art Acevedo's career reflects a tendency among political leaders to look for easy solutions to public safety. Rather than thinking critically about the changes to operations and leadership that would deliver the greatest ROI, elected officials often prefer to simply find a "hero" who promises to make all of the tough decisions for them.
What makes a hero? In Acevedo's case, it was his alpha male bravado. What else led Miami Mayor Francis Suarez to gushingly describe him as the "Tom Brady or Michael Jordan of police chiefs." It wasn't like Acevedo was noted for revolutionary police strategy that had dramatically reduced crime. But he was "star" because of his personality.
