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Chief Troy Finner retired Wednesday from the Houston Police Department in a late-night resignation given to Mayor John Whitmire amid an ongoing probe into how the department has suspended thousands of criminal investigations, according to media reports.
At issue is an internal department computer code that police used in 264,000 cases to suspend investigations due to a lack of personnel. The crimes included roughly 4,000 sexual assault cases.
Finner’s sudden departure came after local media obtained an email that showed Finner had been aware of that code as early as 2018. Finner had previously said he learned of the code in 2021.
In a late-night email to city employees, Whitmire named Assistant Police Chief Larry Satterwhite as acting chief of police, saying he had full confidence in Satterwhite’s abilities.
This is a developing story; check back for details.
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