Though the person who will serve as the Houston Police Department’s acting chief in the wake of Troy Finner’s May 7 retirement has already manned the position, the machinations behind that retirement are still quite murky.
And potentially disturbing.
Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite became acting HPD chief as of 10:31 p.m. on May 7 after Finner retired from the position, according to an email sent to city employees that same evening by Mayor John Whitmire. But, according to one local activist, the plan to “retire” Finner was in the works well before last November’s mayoral election.
“I have accepted the retirement of Troy Finner as Chief of Police, and have appointed Larry Satterwhite Acting Chief of Police effective 10:31pm tonight [May 8]. This decision comes with full confidence in acting Chief Satterwhite’s abilities to lead and uphold the high standards of the department,” said Whitmire via email.
At the May 8 Houston City Council meeting, Whitmire said he intends to discuss how the retirement took place during a press briefing at a later time.
“I want to thank Chief Finner for his many years of public service,” the mayor said at the meeting. “It’s my responsibility to provide public safety for all Houstonians and the decision was made.”
Finner’s resignation follows months of public outcry regarding worries of rising crime and 260,000 police cases that were suspended by an internal lack of personnel code—a code Finner ordered subordinates to stop using. However, use of the controversial code continued and, when uncovered, called into question the level of trust the general public could have in HPD’s words and work.
HPD recently concluded an investigation into its own personal code / case suspension controversy, though the findings have yet to be publicly released.
However, an internal Houston police memo obtained by KHOU 11 Investigates suggests Finner knew about the clearance code in 2018, more than three years earlier than he publicly claimed.
“At that time, I told them the code was unacceptable and never use it again,” said Finner during a March press conference.
Still, a Houston-area activist claimed months ago that Whitmire wanted to replace Finner before the November 2023 election but chose not to do so to avoid losing potential Black votes in his contest against then-mayoral challenger U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.
According to the activist, an individual on Whitmire’s shortlist for new HPD chief was told to suspend the use of that now controversial code by Finner, assuring the 34-year HPD veteran and Madison High School alum that the code would no longer be used. However, the individual continued to use it, knowing it would later create a stain on Finner’s tenure and reputation.
Because none of those allegations coming from the activist could be confirmed, the Defender did not report them. However, in the aftermath of Finner’s resignation, which that same activist predicted, several members of Houston’s Black community have questions.
Though Finner has provided no comment on his resignation, he did post on X on the evening of May 7 that he had no recollection of a 2018 email exchange obtained by several Houston TV stations in which he took issue with a road rage case suspended because of a lack of personnel.
“Even though the phrase ‘suspended lack of personnel’ was included in this 2018 email, there is nothing that alerted me to its existence as a code or how it was applied within the department,” said Finner on X.
