HOUSTON – Manpower and a new records management system are being blamed for a decrease in the number of rape cases being cleared by the Houston Police Department.
HPD records show a 44 percent clearance rate in 2013, in 2014 that number dropped to 24 percent.
Through September of this year, HPD's clearance rate for rapes is 33 percent.
"As manpower continues to suffer, the clearance rates are also going to suffer," said Ray Hunt, president of the Houston Police Officers Union.
Hunt said he believes the department needs to add at least 800 more officers.
"You don't have people to work cases, you're not going to be able to solve cases," Hunt said.
According to HPD, out of 1,130 investigators, 34 are assigned to the Special Victims Division handling adult and juvenile rape cases. HPD reports each of the investigators in this division carries an average caseload of 30 cases.
The issue of unsolved rape cases even came up in the mayoral race.
"I think it's a manpower issue, but it's also a management issue," mayoral candidate Bill King said. "Last year, we had 600 women who were raped in the city of Houston that we as a community did nothing about."
Both King and his opponent, Sylvester Turner, said if elected, they would add 500 more officers to HPD's ranks.
"You have to have more police, anyone who says you don't need more police is not going to solve it," Turner said. "When crimes are taking place, if you don't solve them, you create an atmosphere where people think they can get away with crimes."
Hunt also said HPD's new records management system is affecting clearance rates. In a recent union newsletter Hunt called the system a "disaster." This is the system where officers input information on current cases and look up information on old cases.
"It's not user friendly," Hunt said.
"How does that affect the investigative process in terms of solving cases?" asked Channel 2 Investigator Robert Arnold.
"It slows it down," Hunt said. "A case that you used to be able to do all these things in 20 minutes, now may take you three or four hours."
HPD officials declined Channel 2's request to speak about this issue on camera. However, department officials sent two written statements.
"We believe statistics on our clearance rates for last year and year-to-date this year are attributed in large part to two factors: a new Records Management System implemented at HPD in 2014 and lower than desired staffing levels in our investigative divisions," the first statement read. "Getting acclimated to the new records system has taken time and we believe actual clearance numbers will be more reflective at the conclusion of this year and into next year. Clearance rates depend on many variables, including solvability factors, evidence, witnesses, etc. Staffing is one such variable and a staffing study recommended we hire hundreds of more personnel to our investigative divisions. Our clearance rates for murders and robberies remain at or above the national average. We have work to do in other UCR Part 1 categories and can always do better by utilizing technology and working smarter."
A second statement reads, "First thing to bear in mind about the clearance rate process is the numbers are tabulated, and are added to the current month's stats as they are known at that time. With a new records management system of this undertaking, sometimes it takes time to correctly locate those clearances to enter into a specific month. Officers are having no problems getting acclimated to the system and writing their reports. With any new system, it takes time to discover technical and process related bugs and hurdles. In the RMS, we know the work is being done. There's an imbalance between the work being done and pulling the clearance data out of the system. Modifications are being made regularly and we're seeing more reflective clearance numbers as we address the programming issues. While we undergo those modifications, it's important to note the clearance numbers we report each month are correct as we have them at the time of entry. The same was true in the previous records system known as OLO. We believe since these technical and programming issues are being better addressed, the clearance numbers will be more in line with previous years. At the current time, we believe the numbers are underrepresented of what the true rates are. As we better locate and capture more cleared reports in the system, the numbers will show an uptick. As previously mentioned, our clearance rates in two of the most violent crime categories of murder and robbery meet or exceed the national average."
Link: DPS' Crime in Texas report
Watch the above video to hear how these unsolved cases take an even further toll on those who have survived a rape.
