Houston activists say they want to be involved when Mayor Whitmire names city’s next police chief – Houston Public Media

Houston activists want a seat at the table when Mayor John Whitmire names the city’s next police chief following Troy Finner’s sudden departure from the Houston Police Department late last week.

An internal investigation was launched earlier this year after Finner announced more than 260,000 unexamined incident reports had been suspended over the past eight years. According to Finner, incident reports were shelved using a code representing understaffing.

Finner’s prior knowledge of this code was called into question last week after an internal email appeared to show that Finner was aware of the code as early as 2018 – despite his claims that he had learned of the code’s existence for the first time during a meeting in November 2021. A few days later, Finner announced his retirement and Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite took his place as interim chief of the Houston Police Department.

Now, Whitmire is tasked with appointing a permanent replacement and local activists, like Hai Bui, want to be included in the process.

Bui founded We The People Organize after the infamous Harding Street raid in 2019, which resulted in the deaths of two innocent people at the hands of police. He wants the city’s next police chief to come from outside the department because he wonders how many members of HPD leadership knew about the problem in recent years.

“My hunch is that all the deputy chiefs must have known this,” Bui said. “I hope a new chief can come in and set a new tone, new leadership and make our city proud to have these officers.”

According to Whitmire, HPD’s internal investigation has, so far, given no indication that Satterwhite knew about the code, although Satterwhite himself says he doesn’t really remember when he heard talk about code for the first time.

Other activists say they would like to see a democratic appointment process implemented at City Hall. Christopher Rivera, outreach coordinator for the Texas Civil Rights Project’s criminal injustice program, said he wants the next chief to be transparent and address racial disparities in traffic stops and incidents involving the use of force. force throughout the city.

“We’ve seen countless chiefs appointed by the mayor and every single one of them has consistently maintained these racial disparities,” Rivera said. “We really hope that Mayor Whitmire will raise the voices of the public as well as other advocates who are on the ground working with the communities most impacted by excessive policing.”

Katya Abazajian, organizer with the Houston Abolitionist Collective, echoed this sentiment.

“Whoever is selected has to be someone who will actually listen to the community,” Abazajian said. “There are so many communities speaking out right now and wanting to see different forms of community safety.”

Last week, after Finner’s retirement announcement made headlines, Whitmire said he viewed the city’s search for a new leader as “an opportunity to come together.”

However, Whitmire says he has no plans to create an advisory committee. Instead, Whitmire plans to “use 52 years of experience” as well as “real-time contact with Houstonians” to find and appoint a worthy candidate to lead the department.

“I hope this difficult decision is not used to divide the city,” Whitmire said. “I will play no role in this.”