Houston Police Department Suspends Over 260,000 Cases Due to Staff Shortages

The suspensions, affecting around 10% of all incident reports since 2016, include significant numbers of sexual assault and property crime cases.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner revealed the suspension of more than 260,000 criminal cases since 2016, citing a 'lack of personnel' code.
The suspended cases represent about 10% of the 2.8 million incident reports filed over the past eight years, with around 100,000 being property crimes.
Efforts to review and address over 4,000 suspended sexual assault cases are ongoing, with some cases found to be duplicates or mislabeled.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire expressed concern and deemed the situation 'unacceptable,' emphasizing public safety as a top priority.
The 'lack of personnel' code, developed nearly a decade ago, was supposed to have been discontinued in 2021, but continued to be used despite orders.