The city of Houston has accepted the retirement of Troy Finner as police chief, an email to police employees said Tuesday.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Troy Finner, Houston’s city police chief for three years, retired amid questions over whether he knew about a code that suspended more than 260,000 cases years earlier than the calendar that he had given to the public.

Eyewitness News obtained an email from Mayor John Whitmire sent to Houston Police Department employees Tuesday evening, informing them of the change at the top. Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite will serve as interim police chief, as noted in the email.

In March 2021Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner chose Finner to take over the department in the fourth-largest U.S. city, overseeing more than 5,300 officers and 1,200 other civilian support employees, according to The HPD website.

Finner’s tenure extended into John Whitmire’s mayoral administration that began this year. In the second month of the former state senator’s term, the chief revealed thousands of sexual assault investigations were suspended due to lack of staff, to which the coding “SL” was attached.

In the weeks following the mid-February revelation, Finner announced the true scale of suspended cases: more than 264,000 investigations suspended since 2016 due to staffing shortages.

SEE MORE: HPD says more than 81,000 reports reviewed of 264,000 cases suspended due to staffing shortages

While Art Acevedo was chief at the start of this timeline, ABC13 pressed Finner as he learned of the cases and his actions to resolve unresolved issues.

Hours before Finner’s firing was revealed to HPD employees, 13 investigations reported 2018 email which was called into question when Finner first heard a case was suspended.

At a press conference on March 7, Finner told reporters that he first became aware of the code in November 2021 and ordered his executives never to use it again. But an email obtained by 13 investigators shows he knew the code was being used at least once in 2018.

The July 20, 2018, email was addressed to several high-ranking HPD leaders, including Acevedo and Finner, who was executive deputy chief at the time.

The email mentions a specific road rage case marked “Suspended – Understaffing.” He said the case was characterized that way, even though a witness identified a suspect.

Finner responds to the email saying, “This is unacceptable, look into the matter and follow up with me.”

The email does not report issues with the suspended code or indicate how often it is used.

After the report, Finner released a statement, insisting he had no recollection of the email before Tuesday.

The email sent to staff Tuesday evening did not provide details about the chief’s firing.

As of Tuesday evening, Finner and Mayor Whitmire had yet to make a statement following the leadership change.

Any victims whose contact information has changed since the time of their report can call (713) 308-1180 or email [email protected].