- Houston Police Chief Troy Finner has vowed to restore public trust after more than 264,000 cases were canceled over eight years due to staffing shortages.
- Finner said incident reports involving sexual assault and property crimes are not investigated.
- He apologized for the use of the code, saying it was not victim-centred and should never have been used.
The Houston Police Chief on Thursday said he wants to restore public confidence in the department after it was revealed that over the past eight years, understaffing led to more than 264,000 cases being dropped, including more than 4,000 related to sexual assault. promised.
Commissioner Troy Finner announced last month that hundreds of thousands of incident reports, including sexual assaults and property crimes, were not submitted to investigators because officers were assigned internal regulations citing staff shortages. This figure represents about 10% of the 2.8 million incident reports filed over the past eight years.
“I apologize to the victims, their families, and the public for the use of this law in cases of sexual assault and other crimes of violence against others,” Finner said at a press conference Thursday. “This is not the trauma-informed, victim-centered service they deserve. Again, this code should never and will never be used.”
More than 260,000 criminal cases in Houston have been put on hold due to “staffing shortage”, police chief says
Finner’s press conference came a day after Mayor John Whitmire announced he would appoint an independent commission to review police responses to dropped cases, saying the public “demands answers and accountability.” I was disappointed.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said during a press conference at police headquarters on March 7, 2024, that more than 264,000 cases were dismissed over the past eight years, including more than 4,000 cases of sexual assault. speak to the media. Lack of human resources. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle, via AP)
“How could something like that (code) exist? … I’m shocked by it. It’s unacceptable,” Whitmire said.
The internal code, which is part of the department’s records management system, was created in 2016, several years before Finner took over as secretary in April 2021. It was used in his two previous administrations.
Finner said he first learned officers were using the code in November 2021 and ordered them to stop using it. However, on February 7 this year, he learned that the system was still being used to dismiss a significant number of adult sexual assault cases.
Finner said the internal affairs investigation is looking into why he failed to comply with the order to stop using the code and how the code was used in the first place.
Two deputy police chiefs have already been demoted over their roles in the matter. Finner declined to comment on whether more employees may face disciplinary action, citing the ongoing investigation.
He said the department’s top priority is to contact those who filed the more than 4,000 sexual assault reports that have been suspended. At least 32 police officers have been assigned to investigate these incidents, contact people and conduct follow-up interviews.
More than 3,000 of these cases have been investigated so far, with 133 interviews scheduled. Finner said police are also working to contact people who have filed reports of family violence incidents.
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Also suspended were 109,000 reports filed with the major assault unit and 91,000 reports relating to property and financial crimes. Additionally, 6,537 reports filed with the homicide unit were dismissed, most of them related to allegations of assault or intimidation, Finner said.
According to an August report by the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based think tank, many junior police officers are resigning, older officers are retiring, and applications to fill vacancies have plummeted. Police departments across the United States are facing an increasingly urgent staffing crisis.
Houston is no exception, and Finner said the department has about 5,200 employees and needs 2,000 more to be fully staffed. Still, he added, that’s no excuse to dismiss hundreds of thousands of cases.
“What has happened since 2016 is unacceptable. HPD as a department owns it and as chief I am committed to making sure it is fixed,” Finner said.
