HOUSTON, Texas – To ensure accountability among city officials, KPRC 2 Investigates is following up on Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s first year in office and his promise to reform the Houston Police Department after the suspension of sexual assault cases came to light.
“Public safety is my highest priority it has been and it will be as long I’m mayor,” Whitmire stated.
Just seven weeks into his term, Mayor Whitmire faced an unexpected challenge in his commitment to making Houstonians safer when the department was exposed for suspending more than 200,000 sexual assault and domestic violence cases.
“It had a huge impact on what I was trying to accomplish by increasing the number of recruits,” Whitmire said.
The suspended cases included serious offenses such as sexual assault and domestic violence, affecting women and children.
Then-Chief Troy Finner, who was aware of the situation, announced his retirement amid the investigation.
“We had to take cops off the streets and put them in the review of suspended cases,” Whitmire explained.
Finner was replaced by former Texas Ranger Noe Diaz.
“He’s a cop when he’s out there on the street. I’ve ridden with him half a dozen times now at night,” Whitmire said.
Whitmire’s commitment to public safety has energized the ranks, with more than 400 new cadets joining the department.
First-year officers are now receiving a $10,000 raise and a $1,000 gun voucher to purchase their own weapon, a first for any Houston mayor in an effort to recruit officers.
But despite these efforts, challenges remain.
“We don’t have the number of HPD officers that we need, and you can’t fix something if you don’t acknowledge that you have a problem,” Whitmire admitted.
To address this, Whitmire is working to increase officers’ pay to be competitive with other cities, aiming to retain and recruit talent.
Until public funds are available, he is leveraging relationships built at the capitol to fulfill another campaign promise: a greater presence of state police in Houston.
“You’re going to start seeing DPS officers pulling folks over on the freeways for speeding and DWI,” Whitmire shared.
Whitmire said he has personally attended various enforcement surges around the city, where multiple agencies collaborate to increase police presence on the streets.
The work-in-progress reform continues this week as the mayor is set to submit his list of members to the Independent Police Oversight Board at city council.
