Houston Police Chief Is Out Due to 'Suspended Case" Scandal
In February, Finner stated 260,000 incident reports were suspended due to lack of personnel since 2016. Since then, he has maintained that he first learned the "suspended" code was created in 2016 and that it was used in two previous administrations before he was named chief in April 2021.
November 2021 was the first time Finner claimed he was made aware of this code in a briefing by the Special Victims Division. ‘At that time, I told them the code was unacceptable and never use it again," Finner said during a March 7 press conference.
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The July 20, 2018, email was addressed to several high ranking HPD leaders, including then Chief Art Acevedo, as well as Finner, who was an executive assistant chief back then.
The email mentions a specific road rage case that was marked as "Suspended-Lack of Personnel".
It details that the case was labeled that way, even though a witness ID'ed a suspect.
Finner responds to the email saying, "this is unacceptable, look into it and follow up with me."
The email does not flag issues with the suspended code or address how often it is being used.
After the report, Finner released a statement, insisting he had no recollection of the email until Tuesday.
The email to staffers Tuesday night doesn't go into specifics for the chief's dismissal.
As of late Tuesday, Finner and Mayor Whitmire have yet to give statements after the leadership change.