HOUSTON – The sudden departure of Troy Finner as Chief of the Houston Police Department came as a surprise to many. Despite serving as chief of police for about three years, the Houston native had a wide presence as the leader of several major cases impacting the city.
On April 5, 2021, Finner was sworn in as Houston’s police chief, succeeding Art Acevedo, who left for Miami to serve as their chief.
“It’s time to go to work,” he said at the podium. “It’s time to get everybody in this fight.”
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In his three years as the head cop for the City of Houston, he’s overseen several major cases that have impacted the city. Months into his term, Finner said he first learned about the suspended cases – but it was sort of shelved because the next day, was Astroworld Festival in November 2021.
The excitement for fellow Houston native Travis Scott’s two-day festival quickly turned to panic, confusion, and devastation. 10 young people, lost their lives as a result of a crowd crush during Scott’s performance.
HPD investigated the tragedy for 19 months--- releasing their findings to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, who then presented it to a grand jury that chose not to indict six people including Travis Scott.
As of this week, nine out of the 10 wrongful death lawsuits filed after the festival have been settled. The one pending lawsuit is that of the youngest victim, 9-year-old Ezra Blount – the judge overseeing the case scheduled a hearing next week.
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Fast forward to February 2024, when a child was seriously injured along with a man after a shooting at Lakewood Church. The shooter, Genesse Moreno, was killed.
Investigators say she went into the church wearing a trench coat, and backpack, and carrying what officers said was an assault-style rifle. She failed to get into the sanctuary because the doors were locked.
Days after the Lakewood Shooting, the announcement came that more than 200,000 incident reports were suspended due to a “lack of personnel.” Of those cases, more than 4,000 were sexual assault reports.
The department set up a team to review all of those cases with the help of Trauma-Trained Specialists. There were two separate investigations, as well as an internal affairs review and one by an independent panel appointed by the mayor.
And during that time, KPRC 2 Investigates stayed on top of the investigatory process. Chief Finner’s abrupt departure did not include much of an explanation. However, in his short time, he did bring about several changes such as overseeing body and dash camera purchases while updating HPD’s policies.
Bodycam Footage
In the updated policy, Finner added nearly 150 patrol units with dashboard cameras to increase transparency and accountability. The move came after half of HPD’s patrol vehicles, that would need the cameras didn’t. Also, all patrol officers are outfitted with body-worn cameras.
Earlier this year, Finner said HPD would activate a feature known as “record after the fact” allowing body-camera footage to be retrieved regardless of whether an officer turns it on.
Police Chases
After a 26 % increase in police chases – finner also revised the department’s chase policy last year. The change now requires officers to consider the performance capabilities of the fleeing vehicle.
Plus traffic conditions – the distance between the responding officers and the person fleeing and the likelihood that any involved vehicle may crash under the circumstance of the chance. Finner said the department added unique training and tactics aimed at stopping pursuits before they begin.
Decrease in violent crime*
Finner reported to City Council, last year of a more than 17 percent drop in murders compared to the prior year.
Robbery, Aggravated Assault, and Human Trafficking also saw a significant double-digit decrease in percentage.
However, Finner did present an increase in reported rape incidents during the same time frame.
Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who promoted finner from lieutenant to chief, said his departure is a loss to the department and city. Current Mayor John Whitmire also shared similar sentiments about Finner, noting they were “close friends.”