Chief Troy Finneran abruptly retired from the Houston Police Department late Tuesday night, handing in his notice to Mayor John Whitmire amid a new investigation into why the department suspended thousands of criminal investigations.
At issue is an internal department code that police used to suspend investigations into 264,000 cases due to personnel shortages. These crimes included approximately 4,000 cases of sexual assault.
Finneran’s sudden departure came after local media obtained an email that revealed the chief knew about that code as early as 2018. Finneran previously said he learned about the code in 2021, The revelation threatened to embroil Finneran in an investigation that appeared to be concluding only last week.
Whitmire said the decision to retire Feiner was ultimately the chief’s, but it was made in “conversation” with the mayor.
In a late-night email to city staff, Whitmire appointed Assistant Police Chief Larry Satterwhite as acting police chief, saying he has full confidence in Satterwhite’s abilities to “lead and maintain the high standards of our department.” .
Whitmire had repeatedly expressed support for Finneran and, in fact, began her City Hall tenure with an overnight ride with key moments after being sworn in at midnight on January 1. His public support continued despite months of headlines about the suspended cases, even as he formed an independent committee to review those cases and the police department’s actions.
He said Wednesday that the “final blow” that prompted Whitmire’s decision to accept Finneran’s resignation was the newly revealed email. Despite Finneran’s protestations that he did not remember the email, Whitmire said the revelation would cast a long-term cloud over the department.
“I consider Troy Finer a friend, a colleague,” Whitmire said. “It is not an easy decision to see a public servant retire. I am confident that this was in the best interests of Houston, the department, and Chief Finneran. “This – due to the investigation and the new material – had become disruptive to the department.”
Whitmire now faces a high-stakes decision, which she said she would decide alone, about who should serve as her permanent chief at a time of falling crime rates but persistent concerns about public safety. .
Council members praised Finneran
Finneran served as the top cop for three crucial years following the sudden departure of Art Acevedo in March 2021.
The country was still dealing with the after-effects of the pandemic and protests over the killing of George Floyd. Additionally, the Houston Police Department was struggling with the fallout from Acevedo’s difficult tenure, including the infamous Harding Street Raid.
A native of the Fifth Ward and a student of Houston Public Schools, Finner joined the force in 1990, and worked his way up through the ranks before being selected as chief by former Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Whitmire said during his campaign last year that he would retain Finneran, while also saying he expected the chief “to get better.”
On Wednesday, a series of council members praised Finneran. Mayor Pro Tem Martha Castex-Tatum described him as an “outstanding professional.”
“To be honest, I have mixed feelings about all of this,” he said. “Chief Finneran has, in my opinion, operated with the highest level of integrity. He served HPD for 34 years, and I didn’t want his 34 years of dedicated service to go unrecognized by this council, by this city.
Former Mayor Turner paid tribute to Finneran at the X.
“Chief Troy Finneran gave more than 34 years of his life to HPD,” Turner said. “…His passing is a loss to HPD and our city.”
Several council members said they believed Finneran when he said he did not recall receiving the 2018 email in reference to the suspended cases.
District D Council Member Caroline Evans-Shabazz said that also in that 2018 email thread, Finneran called the suspension of a case “unacceptable.”
“I want to challenge anyone anywhere who can remember an email from 2018,” she said. “But what was consistent here was the fact that they said it was unacceptable.”
Feiner did not respond to a request for comment. In a comment on Twitter, he thanked citizens and department staff.
“The last few months of my career were probably the most challenging but also the most rewarding,” Finner said. “This was painful because some victims of violent crime did not receive the quality care and service they deserved. But, it was also beneficial because we implemented measures to ensure that this does not happen again.”
investigation resumed
On April 30, Finneran publicly announced that the high-profile investigation involving hundreds of thousands of closed cases had ended. The mayor said an external review panel appointed by Whitmire was set to discuss its interim findings at council on Wednesday.
However, instead of terminating the investigation, it has been reopened due to renewed scrutiny over a letter from Acting Assistant Chief Chandra Hatcher.
In that February letter, Hatcher urged the department to open an investigation into the suspended cases and claimed she had attended a command staff meeting in late 2021 where “concerns were raised” about investigating sexual assault cases. Went.
According to KPRC reporting last week, Hatcher may have been out of town during that meeting.
By Friday, investigation into the suspended cases had been resumed. Then the email chain involving Finneran was revealed.
“People want to ask for an investigation into when Chief Finneran got the information,” Whitmire said. “So, the difficult decision is what is in the best interest of Houstonians, the department and Chief Finnergan, certainly in the context of public safety, and he decided yesterday afternoon to retire.”
Houston Police Officers Union President Douglas Griffith said the Hatcher letter calls into question the very foundation of investigating suspended cases, which has already led to the demotion of two assistant chiefs.
“It appears that this investigative letter was factually incorrect, but was nevertheless used as a basis to conduct a very rapid, one-sided investigation, which led to a list of former assistant and executive assistant chiefs of staff being removed from the code.” Griffith said in a blog post last week.
The internal investigation into the creation of the label used to suspend hundreds of thousands of tests overshadowed Satterwhite’s first appearance as chief at a press conference at HPD headquarters.
Asked several questions about what he knew and when he knew it, the interim chief repeatedly emphasized that he only remembered the first hearing about the suspended cases between late 2023 and early 2024. He said he was “still caught up on a lot of things.”
“I’m struggling to remember going there and all that, so I don’t really have a good answer for you,” he said Wednesday.
The investigation has been reopened, he said – and the force is investigating every case, from the most violent to the most violent.
“We still have real victims, OK,” Satterwhite said. “And for that, we need to do everything possible to help them so that we try to bring the solution to as many people as possible and try to adopt it and move forward.”
well-known replacement
In Satterwhite, Whitmire chose a highly visible member of HPD’s command staff who received praise from several council members and the police union for her accountability.
Satterwhite is a “good guy” who “leads by example,” Griffith said. “I think he’ll do a good job here as interim chief,” he said.
According to ABC 13, Griffith was recently placed under investigation by the department in connection with a letter that questioned the validity of the investigation.
Before his appointment as acting chief of staff, Satterwhite was the Chief of Field Operations. On Wednesday, he said Finneran was a friend who went to the police academy with him. It was difficult to replace him, Satterwhite said.
“It’s hard. It’s hard. Troy’s a friend,” Satterwhite said. “I didn’t want to be standing here, certainly not under these circumstances. I care about him, but I also care about all the men and women of the police department.
The mayor expressed confidence in Satterwhite, whom he said he has known for years.
“He was actually the acting chief when Chief Finneran left the city, so I know the department and Houstonians have a good rapport with Chief Satterwhite. I want to thank Chief Finneran for his many years of public service,” Whitmire said.
The mayor said he has not made any decisions about the next permanent head of the department, but he is not ruling out internal or external candidates.
In response to questions from the news media, Whitmire said she could not provide a timeline for choosing a new chief. However, he said he would not appoint a search or advisory committee, which he said were often used largely “for show.”
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