HOUSTON — On Wednesday, city leaders apologized to victims who have potentially been left in limbo due to the Houston Police Department's revelation that thousands of crime reports had been suspended "due to a lack of personnel" since as far back as 2016.
City Council members called for a fair, transparent investigation by Houston Police Chief Troy Finner to find out what happened and accountability moving forward.
While some councilmembers called for answers straight from HPD leadership, others said they wanted to work on restoring the trust between police and victims, some of whom are already hesitant to report crime.
"That is not acceptable and our city owes you better," Edward Pollard, City Council District J, said.
Finner said every HPD department used the "due to lack of personnel" code since 2016, resulting in thousands of cases being placed on the back burner. Finner said the number of incident reports that had been suspended with the code was about 264,000.
An HPD report showed that about 4,000 of those were sexual assault cases, which is why the Houston Area Women's Center is calling for change.
On Wednesday, several survivors shared their stories in hopes of sparking conversations that could lead to a change in how reports and responses are handled.
"I think it's important that we recognize that every survivor here had some sort of bumps on the road. And that can be sometimes discouraging to survivors that, you know, they might feel hopeless, sad, isolated from this experience," survivor Ana Polanco said. "This is not an unusual situation, it happens very often, unfortunately, and that things need to change."
HAWC said Finner has assured them that HPD will do whatever is necessary to gain back the trust and respect of the organization, but more importantly, the survivors themselves.
"We intend to leverage the attention currently on HPD and direct it towards real solutions because this is so much bigger than HPD," HAWC President and CEO Emilee Whitehurst said.
Survivors hope that sharing what they went through will help others.
"I hope they, they hear our voices today. And the message, I hope they, you know, read the reports. I hope they take it seriously. Take all of us seriously, all survivors," Emily Tippit said.
Vice Mayor Pro-tempore Amy Peck said the concerns voiced by many before the report came out were warranted.
"The concern is always, 'Well, nothing’s going to happen, why even come forward?" And in a lot of cases, unfortunately, that was right," Peck said.
HPD recently touted a decrease in crime, but with the amount of cases that had been suspended, some were wondering if that assessment was accurate.
"It makes me wonder, were these (suspended cases) included in those calculations?" City Council Member At-Large Position 1 Julian Ramirez said.
Finner said the suspended cases were included in those numbers, however. He said he's still getting down to the facts, but promised that the codes in question won't be used again.
RELATED: Mayor Whitmire weighs in on sexual assault cases that were suspended by Houston Police Department
Some wondered if it was too late to pursue the suspended cases.
"I'm sure a lot of them are already past the statute of limitations," City Council Member District G Mary Nan Huffman said.
Even with the disheartening news surfacing, City Council is hopeful that Finner and HPD will do what's right moving forward.
"I believe that Chief Finner is doing the best that he can do," City Council Member At-Large Position 2 Willie Davis said.
"We all deserve accountability, and I think we’ll get that from Chief Finner," Mayor Pro Tem Martha Castex-Tatum said.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire said he's putting it on Finner to get things right.
RELATED: 'Should have never happened' | Houston police to review sexual assault cases that had been suspended
"We have real challenges. We need to allow the chief to do his job and hold people accountable," Whitmire said.
Finner said he'll hold a news conference to disclose more information later this week.
If you were a victim of a crime and believe your case didn't get enough attention, you can contact the Houston Police Department at 713-884-3131.
Whitmire issued this statement Monday:
"I am very concerned. It is unacceptable and I have instructed Chief Finner to be transparent and continue his review as a top priority. Public safety continues to be my highest priority."