Houston police have put more than 260,000 criminal cases on hold over the past eight years. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said this was due to the department’s “understaffing” policy. fox news digital.
Mr Finner said last week that more than 4,000 sexual assault charges had been suspended due to “understaffing”, but further investigation found the provision also applied to all other departments.
The report noted that since 2016, approximately 264,000 incident reports have been suspended due to shortages.
Suspended incident reports account for about 10% of the 2.8 million reports filed since 2016. Finner noted that of the 264,000 reports, about 100,000 were property crimes.
cliff report The Houston Police Department released a statement regarding this on Monday, saying:
An investigation into an adult sex crime case that was stopped under the “understaffed” code was expanded to all other units within the department found to be using the same code. We determined that since 2016, approximately 264,000 similar incident reports across the department have been stopped by this code. This figure represents about 10% of the 2.8 million incident reports filed with HPD over the past eight years. Of the 264,000 calls, about 100,000 were property crimes. Efforts continue to review reports of sexual assault incidents and contact potential victims. We will also deploy additional personnel to other investigative units to address these incident reports regarding crimes against persons.
Finner said he first became aware in November 2021 that cases of sexual assault charges were being held up due to staffing shortages and ordered the department to stop using the code.
Despite Mr. Finner’s efforts to prevent these sexual assault cases from being stopped, he was informed in February 2024 that these cases were still being stopped due to staffing shortages. As a result, allegations of sexual assault were not actively investigated.
“Am I proud of this? No, I’m angry. I know, because I know we’re better and we’re going to make it right, And we’re going to make it right,” Finner said last week, noting the department is in trouble. There is still a shortage of manpower.
Houston Mayor John Whitmore also commented on the development: “I am extremely concerned about this development. It is unacceptable and I have directed Secretary Finner to be transparent and continue to review this as a top priority.”
“Public safety remains my top priority.”
Finner said he would hold a press conference later this week on the issue.
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