Police in Houston, Texas, did not see fit to investigate more than 4,000 sexual assault cases brought before them, their chief admitted Thursday.
Troy Finner announced on social media last week that he had learned that his police department had closed numerous investigations due to a lack of staff, a situation he described as unacceptable.
KPRC 2, an NBC affiliate in Houston, then announced earlier this week that about 2,000 cases were pending, according to the police union.
However, that number represented only half of the cases, as police turned their noses up at 4,017 cases, Chief Finner eventually admitted at a press conference.
“It's a dark day. In 34 years [de carrière]I've been through a lot, we've been through a lot. Not only do I want to say it's the darkest day, we've had worse. Okay, that's another one. All services, if we've been around long enough, have had to go through different situations,” he explained during the conference.
The situation in Houston was described as divergent by experts consulted by KPRC 2.
“This is the most disturbing thing I have heard in my entire law enforcement career! “Failure to investigate sexual assault cases is disastrous for victims,” protested a former New York police chief.