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Houston Police Chief Troy Finner announced Thursday that his department is reviewing more than 4,000 adult sexual assault cases that officers might have incorrectly suspended over the past several years.

The cases date back to 2016, when officers began classifying cases in the department’s system as “suspended – lack of personnel.”

Finner, who became chief in April 2021, said he first learned his officers were using the classification in November 2021 and directed them to stop. However, Houston police continued to use the classification, which Finner said he learned on Feb. 7, leading him to order an immediate review of the cases.

“It was unacceptable then, and it’s unacceptable now,” Finner said.

Think Houston police suspended your case?

Houston Police are encouraging people who reported sexual assaults but didn’t hear updates from officers to contact the department.

  • Phone: 713-308-1180
  • Email: specialvictimsreport@houstonpolice.org

Investigators will be contacting people whose cases were classified as “suspended,” but they expect contact information for many of those who reported crimes is now outdated.

Finner issued an apology to victims whose cases languished with Houston police. The department has assigned 22 employees to work through the suspended cases, with 10 more investigators expected to join the team at a later date. Agency leaders have also opened an internal investigation into why officers continued to use the code after being directed not to.

A search of the department’s case management systems uncovered 4,017 sexual assault incident reports that had been suspended, Finner said, adding the number is subject to change. Department leaders will review whether other types of cases were classified as suspended due to lack of personnel, though that information wasn’t yet available.

To date, nearly 700 have been reviewed, Finner said. Some had been mislabeled and were not actual sexual assault cases, he said. Investigators are reviewing how thoroughly officers pursued leads and evidence before they suspended cases, Finner said.

No officers face disciplinary action, but that could change after the review is complete, Finner said. He anticipates it will take six months to go through every case and contact complainants. 

‘Justice to survivors’

Wykesha Dixon, deputy director of Webster-based Bay Area Turning Point, said she was “shocked and appalled” by the number of sexual assault cases that Houston Police had flagged for review.

“Somewhere down the line, we got tied into the work versus the person,” she said.

Dixon couldn’t say whether her organization has worked with survivors of sexual assault whose cases were among those suspended. However, Dixon said she hears from survivors who say their cases aren’t moving forward, or are unsure of where their case stands. 

“My hope is that (the police review) brings justice to survivors who did make complaints, survivors who did risk their privacy, who did possibly risk their safety to be able to do sexual assault exams and make police reports,” Dixon said.

In a statement issued shortly after Finner’s press conference, the Houston Area Women’s Center said it was encouraged that Finner is “recognizing the severity of the failure, immediately responding, and allocating resources towards an improved system.”

“Survivors will continue to pay a high price when there are not clear practices on investigating and supporting sexual assault survivors,” the statement read. 

“For a survivor to find the courage to come forward and report their attack, and then to wait and watch as their case gets suspended, can add immeasurable trauma. Across the country, law enforcement systems are put in place to respond and investigate violent crimes, yet we are experiencing system failure in the fourth-largest city in the nation.”

‘Not good enough’

Although officers were labelling cases suspended due to a lack of personnel, Finner said any staff shortages weren’t a valid excuse for the department’s handling of sexual abuse cases.

“That’s not good enough, when we are not investigating sexual assaults,” Finner said. 

Houston Police leaders have struggled in recent years to bolster their ranks, which have hovered at about 5,100, in part due to candidates choosing higher-paying jobs in suburban departments and the private sector. The Houston Police Department’s number of officers relative to the size of population served is roughly average among the nation’s largest local law enforcement agencies.

related to houston police

by Matt Sledge and Monroe Trombly

Houston Mayor John Whitmire, who took office in January, has pledged to add more officers to the department as part of his campaign pledge to improve public safety in the city. Yet Whitmire hasn’t released a detailed plan for overcoming the challenges that stymied his predecessor, Sylvester Turner, who also tried to increase the department’s size.

In recent years, the Houston Police Department received an average of roughly 1,200 rape or attempted rape reports each year, according to data compiled by the Texas Department of Public Safety. However, the data only captures reports of sexual penetration or oral sex. It does not account for other types of sexual abuse.

From 2018 to 2022, Houston Police said their clearance rate on rape cases neared 30 percent, one of the higher rates among Texas’ largest police departments. It is not immediately clear if or how the “suspended” classification figures into the agency’s clearance rate.

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Monroe Trombly is a public safety reporter at the Houston Landing. Monroe comes to Texas from Ohio. He most recently worked at the Columbus Dispatch, where he covered breaking and trending news. Before...