Houston Police Chief Retires Suddenly After Questions Raised About More Than 260,000 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 Houston Police Department’s office. mayor.

Troy Finner has been chief of the Houston Police Department since 2021, capping a 34-year career with the department.

“I consider Troy Finner a friend. It was difficult to accept his retirement, but it was in the best interest of Houstonians,” said Houston Mayor John Whitmire. said during an impromptu press 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 stated that he was aware of this policy.

Finner was executive assistant in charge 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 to stop using the “understaffing” code to suspend investigations.

Finner said that as of April, the police department made progress in reviewing about 264,000 investigations suspended 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 Published Tuesday evening after KHOU’s report aired, Finner said, “I have always been honest and have never attempted to mislead anyone about anything, including this investigation.” »

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.

In his statement, Finner 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 change in leadership.

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