Houston police chief retires after questions over suspended investigations

Houston’s police chief unexpectedly retired Tuesday night amid questions about a department policy that allowed the suspension of hundreds of thousands of cases, including sexual abuse cases, according to the mayor’s office . Troy Finner had been chief of the Houston Police Department. since 2021, crowning a 34-year career within the department. “I consider Troy Finner a friend. It was difficult to accept his retirement, but it was in the best interest of Houstonians,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said in an impromptu statement. conference on Wednesday. The retirement announcement came hours after an internal email obtained by CNN affiliate KHOU showed Finner referencing an investigation suspended due to “understaffing” in 2018, three years before he said he was aware of the policy. Finner was executive assistant to the chief of patrol operations at the time the email was written. At a press conference in February, Finner said he was not aware of the practice until 2021, the year he became chief, when he ordered the Special Victims Division of the Department of Stop using the code “understaffing” to suspend investigations. Finner said in April that the police department had made progress in reviewing about 264,000 suspended investigations since 2016, citing staffing shortages alone. More than 4,000 of those cases involved allegations of sex crimes against adults. An independent review committee is also investigating. In a statement released Tuesday evening after the KHOU report aired, Finner said, “I have always been honest and have never attempted to mislead anyone about anything, including this survey. » The outgoing chief said he was unaware of the “suspended understaffing” codes used by Houston police at the time, although it was mentioned in the email. Finner’s statement promised he would “address the media and the public” once the investigation is complete. The mayor informed the city council of Finner’s retirement later that night. Larry Satterwhite was named interim police chief by Whitmire on Wednesday. Satterwhite served as executive deputy chief under Finner. The mayor declined to say whether he had requested Finner’s retirement. “It was affecting HPD operations. That’s the bottom line,” Whitmire told reporters Wednesday. “I dealt with it because it was a distraction from the mission of the men and women of HPD.” Finner did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN. As of Wednesday afternoon, police had not officially announced the shift change. direction.