HOUSTON – At the beginning of April, KPRC 2 Investigates told you about a high-ranking civilian employee and former Executive Assistant Chief tied to the 264,000 suspended incident reports, including more than 4,000 sexual assaults.
These reports were suspended due to the lack of personnel. One of the people tied to it all is Jim Jones, and he is still making policy for the department.
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After a no-camera discussion with community representatives and the press, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner called Jones a “brilliant” man who helps him oversee policy decisions. He went as far as to say he should be celebrated for his work. Then the chief told us Jones may be a target and or a witness in the investigation of the suspended incident reports.
In 2021, Jones “recommended not issuing” a department memo stopping the use of the suspension code “SL” due to the lack of manpower.
Two days after that discussion, Jones, an assistant chief policy officer, was the originating person issuing a memo on how the department should now code reports that go to the National Incident-Based Reporting System known as NIBRS.
KPRC 2 Investigates was the first to notice discrepancies between the federal database maintained by the FBI and the Houston Police crime statistics. From 2019-2022, we found the voluntary stats provided to the FBI for NIBRS had discrepancies with aggravated assaults, homicides, motor vehicle thefts, robberies, and sexual assaults. The collected information is to help inform law enforcement of crime trends and potential threats.
A spokesperson with the Houston Police Department told us, at the time, that they were investigating the difference in statistics as part of the total suspended incident investigation.
KPRC 2 Investigates exposed the use of the suspended code involving children before 2018.
Then we learned that 96 sexual assault adult incident reports have previous DNA profiles with direct links to the Combined DNA Index System known as CODIS.
With Chief Finner’s signature, Jones issued new guidelines for implementing NIBRS statistics.
“Each concerned division shall review and screen all ‘Investigation’ offense reports submitted to the division to determine if the elements of a crime exist,” the memo states.
If the term investigation is used incorrectly the case manager will change the report and issue a supplemental report.
Jones put in his notice to the department and is expected to leave his post sometime this month. This development comes at a critical juncture as Chief Finner has explicitly stated that Jones is both a target and a potential witness in the investigation.
A spokesperson with Houston Police says they are gathering information on our request as to why Jones is allowed to continue making policies and will provide a response.
KPRC 2 Investigates reached out to the Mayor’s Office for comment on Jones issuing department procedures while there is an ongoing investigation into his role with the suspended incident reports.
We will add both of their statements as soon as they are received.
