Houston Mayor John Whitmire is taking action in the wake of a scandal that revealed the Houston Police Department (HPD) had suspended over a quarter million cases due to staffing shortages. Whitmire has made a move to appoint an independent panel to review the department's handling of these cases, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.
Amid concerns over transparency and accountability, "I trust and believe Police Chief Troy Finner is doing the best he can to manage the internal investigation, get to the bottom of it, and hold people accountable," Whitmire said in a statement in Mayor's Office of Communications. The mayor promises that the names of those on the panel will be forthcoming. Further complicating matters, Chief Finner disclosed that an internal HPD code citing a lack of personnel was used not just for sexual assault cases but also inappropriately applied to hundreds of thousands others, including property crimes and major assaults.
The independent review is Whitmire's bid to assure the public that the integrity of the investigation will be upheld. "The independent panel will be people I also trust to review and validate the outcome and help bring closure to the victims," Whitmire told the Mayor's Office of Communications. This decision follows HPD's own admission that they are sifting through 264,000 incident reports, which were previously deemed inactive due to the mentioned staffing code.
In his statement, Mayor Whitmire emphasized the gravity of the issue: "I am deeply concerned about how and why this happened. The public wants answers and accountability. This process of appointing an independent panel will validate the investigation's integrity," a sentiment that underscores the urgency and seriousness with which he is treating the situation. HPD is scheduled to provide more updates on their internal review and efforts to reach out to the victims during a news conference set for Thursday. Chief Finner, in the meantime, remains cooperative, welcoming the review as a "vital part of the transparency and accountability" into the scandal, as acknowledged in his statement obtained by Houston Chronicle.
