Mayor Whitmire says accepting Houston Police Chief Troy Finner’s retirement was difficult and ‘made me sick’

HOUSTON – Less than 24 hours after Mayor John Whitmire announced the resignation of Chief Troy Finner as Houston police chief, he admitted it was a difficult decision to accept.

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After the city council meeting, Mayor Whitmire held a press conference where he was quick to remind everyone how close he and Finner were, even before his administration. And while he admits he was reluctant to accept Finner’s decision to retire Tuesday night, he accepted it.

“I am confident this was the best decision for Houstonians, for the department and for Chief Finner,” Whitmire said.

Whitmire also refuted claims that he forced Finner to resign, but acknowledged “the Hatcher letter,” which was first reported by KPRC 2 Investigates.

“I wanted to conclude the investigation once it was done properly,” Whitmire said. “It was reopened Friday afternoon after the Hatcher letter came to light.”

The letter he referenced involves Executive Assistant Chief (EAC) Chandra Hatcher sending Chief Finner a letter on February 22, 2024, requesting that an investigation be opened into the suspended cases to “determine whether department personnel violated the guidelines related to this issue.” The letter was important because his direct responsibility is to oversee “support operations” within the department. In the letter, Hatcher argues for launching an investigation based on information she learned at the 2021 meeting she attended. However, based on documents obtained by KPRC 2 and discussed with multiple sources, it appears Hatcher never attended that meeting.

On Wednesday afternoon, KPRC 2 investigators confirmed that Hatcher was on active duty during the IAD investigation focused on his letter.

MORE: HPD internal affairs investigation into suspended cases not ‘finished’ after Chief Finner tells Houstonians it’s over

Finner’s decision to retire nonetheless appeared to come as a shock to the mayor, who expressed how upsetting it was to accept his retirement.

“Troy and I were good friends,” Whitmire said. “It made me sick when I saw his email.”

Regardless, Mayor Whitmire believes that Executive Asst. Chief Larry Satterwhite, who was named interim chief Tuesday night, is more than equipped for the job.

“The morale of the department, I believe, will improve when we get HPD off the front page, off the news and back to fighting crime,” he said. “Chief Satterwhite created a hot spot in violent scenes. He understands the operations department as well as anyone, so I think we need to support Chief Satterwhite. I thank Chief Finner for his public service and wish him well.

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Finner, a Houston native, had been chief of HPD for a little more than three years and, having been with HPD for more than 30 years, has had a large presence in the city. However, in recent months, the department and its top cop have faced scrutiny over more than 264,000 incident reports, including more than 4,000 reports of sexual assault, which have been suspended due to a “lack of personnel”.

Over lunch Tuesday, hours before the surprise announcement, KPRC 2 investigator Mario Diaz spoke with then-Chief Finner about an internal document obtained that shows reports of The incident was first brought to his attention in 2018, when at a press conference in February. , Finner said he first learned the code was being used in 2021 – about three years earlier and ordered it to stop being used.