HOUSTON — An independent review committee met for the first time Wednesday to examine the Houston Police Department’s handling of suspended cases over the last eight years.
At Wednesday morning’s Houston City Council meeting, Mayor John Whitmire formally introduced the five members of the committee. The committee is now meeting in a room located in the basement of City Hall.
Now, their work begins on reviewing HPD’s handling of suspended cases.
The mayor said the committee’s work will include collecting data, interviewing witnesses, and validating HPD’s own investigation into the matter.
Since 2016, 264,000 cases were marked suspended – lack of personnel, a code HPD Chief Troy Finner said should never have been used.
The group of five committee members includes Ellen Cohen – a former council member and head of the Houston Area Women’s Center, Capt. Jeff Owles of the Texas Rangers, Christina Nowak, of the city’s Office of Policing Reform and Accountability, Rev. T. Leon Preston II, and Houston City Attorney Arturo Michel.
Before heading to their first meeting, the committee went before the city council and the committee’s chair spoke for the first time.
“I think it's a very stellar panel, as you suggest, mayor, it represents a cross-section of the community, and I know that city council feels a strong obligation to make sure that this works as well as do we,” Choen said.
The mayor said the panel does not have a set deadline to complete their review, leaving it up to the committee to determine when to finish their report and share it with the mayor.