People are confused about not investigating cases; they remain unsolved. With the number of crimes that are reported.
Up until recently the Houston Police Department would post the crimes that were reported online.
NIBRSPublicView2024.xlsx (live.com)
There have been no crimes postings since the end of February. That is a new way for people not to know if crime is going down or if it is going up. What the Mayor and the Police are telling us is trust us.
I have recently seen reports that the murder rate is going down this year. I guess the data is correct—at least I hope it is. We have no choice but to trust them.
Through the first months of 2024, crime continued its downward trend in Houston, with a 24% decline in homicides compared to the same time in 2023, a national law enforcement group reported.
The Major Cities Chiefs Association released its report Friday for the first quarter of 2024, showing a nationwide decline in most crime categories compared to 2023. The report examined crime statistics from 68 police departments, comparing data from Jan. 1 through March 31 in 2023 and 2024.
Houston reported declines across the board — from 81 homicides as of March 31, 2023, down to 61 at the same time in 2024; from 366 down to 287 reports of rape; from 1,648 to 1,549 reports of robbery; and 3,989 down to 3,238 reports of aggravated assault.
Nationwide, the number of homicides declined from 1,782 to 1,474; rapes from 7,134 to 5,949; robbery from 22,890 down to 22,195; and aggravated assaults from 62,282 down to 57,270. Source
Back in February I wrote that HPD Chief Finner days were numbered. I still believe that was Whitmire’s intent from the beginning. It seems that former Mayor Turner believes the same.
Before you can remove someone who has done an excellent job and liked, you must seek to discredit that person’s work and leadership. Those who serve especially in elected positions and leaders who advocate for the greater good of our community need to find their voices.
Chief Troy Finner gave 34 plus years of his life to HPD. For the last 3 plus years he led the largest police force in the Southwest through some challenging and divisive times and under his direct leadership crime has trended down. His departure is a loss to HPD and our City. Source
Police needs more men power
They do need more people to help them, especially to investigate crimes, but I don’t believe they have to be police officers to do the leg work and certainly not the investigating that can be done from an office. But, the City is “Broke.” John Whitmire came in and created much more debt within a few months. What is he going to tell the Police Officers who should demand the same type of reward that the firefighters got? The Municipal Employees who did much of the leg work for him during his campaign, will they be treated as nicely?