What you need to know about Houston’s outgoing chief

Fifth Ward native Troy Finner served as Houston’s police chief for about two years until he retired amid a growing scandal over thousands of suspended cases.

His tenure oversaw more than 5,200 sworn officers and 900 civilians in a rapidly growing city of more than 2.3 million residents.

Here’s everything you need to know about Finner’s decades-long career with the department.

Finner was named police chief in April 2021, taking over after his predecessor, Art Acevedo, left to take a job in Miami. In 2023, he earned a total of around $298,000, according to the data.

Before becoming a senior officer, he spent his entire career in Houston. He joined the department in 1990.

INVESTIGATION: Who is responsible for HPD’s abandoned case scandal? This goes well beyond Houston’s ousted police chief.

He began with patrol assignments with Southwest Patrol and South Gessner before moving on to assignments in communications services, internal investigations, criminal investigations and public affairs.

He spent 12 years as a patrolman before being promoted to sergeant in 2002. Five years later, he was promoted to lieutenant and then deputy chief in 2014.

When Acevedo arrived in 2016, he named Finner as one of his two main subordinates, tasking him with overseeing field and support operations.

Beyond his long career with the Houston Police Department, Finner is also a native son.

He was born in the Fifth Ward, raised in the Hiram Clarke neighborhood and graduated from Madison High School. He then earned a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville and a master’s degree in criminology from the University of Houston in Clear Lake.

Finner took over at a critical time for the department. In 2021, the region was grappling with a significant increase in murders and other violent crimes. Law enforcement nationwide has also faced scrutiny following the killing of George Floyd and other controversial cases of use of force and police misconduct.

By the end of 2023, homicides were down about 20% compared to 2022, outpacing a historic decline in murders nationwide. Finner told the city council that the most violent crimes are also down citywide in 2023.

THINNER : Houston Police Chief Troy Finner Announces Retirement Amid Dropped Case Scandal, John Whitmire Says

Houston city leaders, including Finner and former Mayor Sylvester Turner, have touted increased solved homicide rates and additional funding as contributing to the decline in homicides.

Finner’s tenure as chief led Whitmire to say he planned to keep him in that position, even while making significant changes to the city’s leadership starting in January.

Finner’s tenure was not entirely without controversy, however. A Houston Chronicle investigation found that police response times continued to lag.

Then, in February, Finner made the stunning revelation that since 2016, the department had closed more than 264,000 incident reports using a code “SL,” which stands for “Suspended – Understaffed.”

In the days and weeks following the announcement, Whitmire announced an independent investigation into the department’s handling of the code. And Finner said it will be months before department leaders fully understand the scope of the problem.

INVESTIGATION: Help the Houston Chronicle report on HPD’s suspended criminal cases

Representatives of the officers’ union have asked Finner to recuse himself from the internal investigation and some community groups have called for the chief’s resignation in response to the scandal.

Finner announced Feb. 22 that the police department was investigating thousands of suspended sexual assault reports using the code “Suspended – Understaffing.” He said he first discovered the code in 2021.

The following week, Finner announced that the department’s internal investigation had expanded to include hundreds of thousands of cases from other divisions, including property crimes and major assaults, which had also been suspended under of the same code.

Finner retired May 7, and Whitmire named executive assistant Larry Satterwhite as interim chief in a late-night email. The resignation follows what Whitmire described as cascading news stories reporting what Finner knew about the suspended code and when.

On Tuesday, several Houston TV stations reported on an email written by Finner in 2018 referencing the issue of the suspended case, although he said he first became aware of the code in 2021.

ABANDONED CASES: Has HPD suspended an investigation into an incident you reported? Search our database.

Whitmire said Wednesday, May 8, that he and Finner mutually decided to retire as the scandal damaged public trust and employee morale in recent months, Whitmire said.

“I have always been honest and have never attempted to mislead anyone about anything, including this investigation,” Finner said in an article on X.