Houston Police Chief Troy Finner provides updates on violent crimes

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner and the Houston Police Department (HPD) commanders convened with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and City Council Members on Wednesday to provide a quarterly update on violent crimes in the city. The meeting covered several crucial topics, including violent crime statistics, technology updates, recruitment and retention, gang prevention, and youth programs.

Chief Finner presented the attendees with the good news that overall crime rates have been on the decline in Houston. However, the city has witnessed an unfortunate increase in violent crime rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. HPD attributed this nationwide spike in violent crime to various factors, including widespread social anxiety, economic uncertainty, mental health issues, increased presence of illegally-held firearms, and a tense justice system fraught with prosecution backlogs and penalties affecting the pretrial, release and prosecution of violent offenders.

To address this situation and mitigate violent crime in identified hotspots, the city launched a violent crime initiative in 2021. As a result, all categories of violent crime were reduced except for homicides at the end of that initiative. Following that effort, HPD rolled out its “One Safe Houston” crime reduction initiative, which has four key focus areas: violence reduction and crime prevention, crisis intervention, response recovery, opportunities to raise awareness among young people, and essential community partnerships.

Chief Finner’s address emphasized that the community’s safety and wellbeing are paramount and the HPD is entirely dedicated to ensuring it. Furthermore, he recognized that the department’s efforts to reduce violent crime cannot be fully successful without sustained community support and participation.

“We have been and will remain fully committed to working closely with our community members, neighborhood groups, businesses and elected officials to create a safer environment for everyone in Houston, regardless of where they live or what their background is,” declared Chief Finner.

Ultimately, the quarterly report serves as a reminder of the importance of community collaboration in addressing violent crime in Houston and other cities across the country. While the HPD’s initiatives are essential and enacting them is critical, success is not one department’s responsibility alone. Addressing such complex issues requires sustained collaboration between all members of society to combat this issue effectively.

With a strong commitment to community engagement and an unwavering focus on safety, Houston’s fight against violent crime will undoubtedly see progress and deliver a safer city for all.

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