Explosive stuff, with a strong pushback from the Mayor.
Ever since Troy Finner suddenly retired in May, he has kept a low profile.
The former Houston police chief has declined to speak with most members of the media and, aside from a small retirement celebration, rarely appeared in public. Meanwhile, a massive internal investigation continues into the department’s suspension of more than 200,000 cases – a scandal Finner first went public with earlier this year that eventually led to his ouster.
But now, as city leadership prepares to name Finner’s permanent replacement, the 34-year veteran of HPD said he feels compelled to speak.
In a series of exclusive interviews with the Chronicle, Finner said he’s concerned that the city and police department are trying to bury the full details of a disturbing truth he aimed to expose: That the police department in the nation’s fourth-largest city had for almost a decade been routinely shelving investigations into serious criminal activity by labeling them with the code “Suspended – Lack of Personnel,” or “SL.”
“This failure is gonna come back and bite us,” Finner said. “And that’s what I was trying to prevent.”
When Finner was still chief, he pledged to confront the issue head-on. He launched a sprawling internal probe in February and released bi-weekly updates about its progress to the public. He also committed to releasing a full report of the department’s findings, at one point indicating that could happen in early May 2024, shortly before he left.
Finner is worried the department won’t keep those promises now that he’s gone. Updates have dried up, he pointed out. The commander of HPD’s internal affairs department has been reassigned to another division. And the report has yet to come out.
“Agencies all across the country are watching us,” he said. “This is our opportunity to do something and lead the way. So I’m proud to take the blows. But tell the whole story.”
In a brief interview Monday, Mayor John Whitmire rejected Finner’s concerns and insisted that the report would be released soon, though he did not commit to a firm date.
“It’s coming,” he said. “It will be comprehensive.”
The police department did not respond to requests for comment.
Ray Hunt, executive director of the Houston Police Officers’ Union, said he was disappointed Finner had chosen to speak out about the investigation before it was complete. He agreed with concerns that the department has reassigned its internal affairs commander, but otherwise said that Finner is wrong.
“Anyone who believes this is being swept under the rug, I think they’re mistaken,” he said. “HPOU will not allow that to happen, and I’m confident the mayor won’t allow that to happen.”
See here for the last update, in May, when the Mayor’s committee on the dropped cases issued its report to him and City Council. I assume this is the report Chief Finner is referring to, as it has not yet been made public. Be that as it may, whether by coincidence or not the Mayor soon gave a release date for the report.
Mayor John Whitmire said Wednesday that he planned to bring the final, comprehensive report on the Houston Police Department’s suspended cases scandal to city council next week.
In a prepared statement, Whitmire said he looked forward to presenting the report at Wednesday’s council meeting. His comments are the latest firm date the mayor has set for the report, which will provide details about the 264,000 cases suspended since 2016 using an internal code citing a lack of personnel.
The statement came hours after a Chronicle report detailing former Chief Troy Finner’s concerns that without a public discussion, the department might never grapple with the severity of the problem.
“Chief Finner’s comments don’t deserve a response because he knows the facts don’t support his statements,” Whitmire said. “I can’t say what motivated him to make such allegations, but I’m personally disappointed he has.”
Whitmire has pushed back the planned release of the report several times since Finner’s retirement.
OK then. I look forward to seeing the report and what it recommends. I’ll hold off on further comment for now.
I had a lot of faith in former Police Chief Finner but upon finding out he knew years ago and failed to address it, that was where I cut my support. The new Chief should scrutinize all of his appointments and get rid of those found wanting.