Houston not prosecuting cases because of lack of cops

 Jazz Shaw:

Something is definitely amiss at the police department in Houston, Texas, and it's a problem that's been brewing since well before the border invasion began. Houston has one of the highest per capita crime rates of any city of any size in the country, but amazingly, that's not the entirety of the problem. The Houston Police Department is investigating crimes and bringing charges as they should be, though it's more difficult to keep up during the current era of soaring crime rates. But in the cases where they do manage to launch an investigation, roughly ten percent of those cases have been suspended without a resolution, with the department citing a "lack of personnel" as the reason for setting them aside. In the past decade, more than a quarter million cases have been suspended under this code, including more than 4,000 sexual assault investigations. What can be done about this? (Daily Wire)

Around 264,000 criminal cases, including more than 4,000 sex assault cases, have been suspended by the Houston Police Department (HPD) since 2016, citing a “lack of personnel” code, according to Houston Police Chief Troy Finner.

Finner announced on Monday that an in-depth review of the department’s use of the “lack of personnel” code over the past eight years revealed it had suspended around 10% of the 2.8 million incident reports that were filed, the Houston Chronicle reported. The Houston Police Department first revealed last week that just over 4,000 cases of alleged sexual assault had been suspended over “lack of personnel,” which sparked a closer look at how the code was used throughout all divisions of the police department.

The Chief of Police is particularly frustrated about the suspension of sexual assault investigations. He told reporters that he first learned of the use of the "lack of personnel" code in 2021 and ordered that it not be used anymore. But in too many instances, that order was ignored and many departments continued to use it anyway. Why the order was not enforced was not addressed.

Police Chief Troy Finner is venting his frustrations, but his options may be limited. The code "lack of personnel" means precisely what it sounds like. Houston's police force has been understaffed for years. It is currently estimated that the force is roughly 2,000 short of the required number of officers. That's a rather stunning gap in the nation's fourth-largest city.

...

The city needs to hire more police if it is going to seek justice for victims of violent crimes.  It would also probably need to hire more prosecutors and jailers.

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