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Houston Police Chief Troy Finner announced Monday that a review of thousands of adult sexual assault cases has significantly broadened to include all department divisions, with investigators identifying another 260,000 cases of various types classified as suspended due to a lack of personnel.
Houston police officials reached the total of 260,000 cases, about one-third of which involve property crime allegations, while searching the department’s case management system, Finner said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. The figure represents about 10 percent of the 2.8 million incident reports filed with the department in the past eight years, Finner said.
Finner said he would provide more details at a press conference later this week.
The disclosure comes just days after Finner announced that his department would review more than 4,000 adult sexual assault cases that officers labeled as “suspended – lack of personnel” since 2016, when Houston police began using the classification.
Finner, who became chief in April 2021, said last week that he first learned his officers were using the designation 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 cases.
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Houston Police reviewing 4,000 ‘suspended’ sexual assault cases, chief apologizes to victims
by Monroe Trombly / Staff Writer
The department has assigned 32 employees to work through the suspended adult sexual assault cases. Agency leaders have also opened an internal investigation into why officers continued using the code after being directed not to.
Finner said last week that 700 adult sexual assault cases had been reviewed so far. Some were mislabeled as sexual assault cases, though Houston police haven’t specified how many. Investigators are reviewing how thoroughly officers pursued leads and evidence before they suspended cases, Finner said at the time.
“Our efforts to review sexual assault incident reports and contact potential victims continue, Finner said in the statement. “We are also moving additional personnel to other investigative divisions to address these incident reports involving crimes against persons.”
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