HOUSTON – For nearly two months KPRC 2 Investigates has been covering the suspended sexual assault investigations scandal that not only has overwhelmed the Houston Police Department but has also fractured a trust between Houstonians and HPD.
We have spoken with multiple officials ranging from the Chief of Police Troy Finner to Mayor John Whitmire and KPRC 2 Investigates has been breaking numerous stories on this scandal since Chief Finner first told Houstonians of “an unacceptable issue pertaining to adult sex crimes investigations” back on Feb. 22.
We also have heard from multiple individuals tied to the department who have made it clear that morale has dropped even further than what Mayor Whitmire bluntly told us the day after winning the election in December, “Real low, all-time low that I’ve been in my 50 years of public service, and you know I work very closely with HPD,” said Whitmire.
On Wednesday, KPRC 2 Investigates is going into two Houston communities to hear directly from citizens, and we also want to hear from you.
The neighborhoods KPRC 2 Investigates selected were on the city’s northeast and southwest sides. The two locations were chosen based on recent violence that led to deaths in those areas.
“I’m not a violent person, I don’t want to harm anybody, but I don’t want to be harmed either,” Reginald Gould told us. We spoke to Gould primarily about HPD’s scandal. He talked about how he’s feeling these days after HPD Chief Finner announced the suspension of investigations.
“Betrayal. I’m all for the police. I’m not anti-police or anything like that, but if I’m a taxpayer and I expect you to do your job to protect us to the fullest, then I feel like the public has been betrayed if you just sweep it under the rug,” said Gould.
Similar sentiments were expressed to us by Deanna Hartman on the city’s southwest side.
“I can’t believe that everything has kind of been pushed under the rug. It just gives us citizens no faith in our police department.”
Let us know your thoughts on HPD nearly two months after Finner revealed over 4,000 sexual assault investigations were suspended over lack of manpower. KPRC 2 Investigates was able to confirm with Finner last week that multiple cases that have since been reopened have resulted in charges being filed.
Chief Finner also revealed more than a month ago that overall 264,000 criminal cases were suspended using the same code.
It is also important to highlight that Chief Finner admitted he knew about sexual assault cases being suspended in 2021, but it wasn’t until February of this year, over two years later, that he launched a full review and decided to investigate.
Just last week, KPRC 2 Investigates also first reported the department suspended sexual assault cases involving children in 2018 when Chief Finner was one of the top three leaders in the department. The other two, Art Acevedo and Matt Slinkard, are no longer with HPD.
Again, let us know your thoughts in the message board or email us at investigates@kprc.com / mdiaz@kprc.com.
We will have more on this coming up this evening on the KPRC 2 News as well on the Click2Houston app.
DIVE DEEPER:
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5 things to know in Houston’s suspended sexual assault cases investigation