HOUSTON — Troy Finner was sworn in as the new chief of the Houston Police Department during a ceremony Monday at Houston City Hall.
Finner will take command of the department’s fleet of more than 5,300 officers.
During his swear-in ceremony, Finner said he intends on doing a lot of listening to the community and simply wants to go to work every day to make this city better.
Finner is a Houston native and has been with HPD for more than 30 years. He replaces Art Acevedo, who was inducted as the new police chief of Miami just hours before.
Click here to watch Troy Finner's full swear-in ceremony or view in the video below:
Congressman Al Green said since Finner was first sworn in as a Houston Police officer, he has built a legacy of integrity within the communities he serves.
“I believe that as HPD Chief, Troy Finner will make the City of Houston proud by furthering a commitment to justly protect and serve Houston residents as well as by building trust within our communities. I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new capacity," Green said.
Finner is only the second African-American officer to take the post, Mayor Sylvester Turner said during the ceremony.
Finner will have a big job ahead of him.
He said his top priority as chief will be reducing the number of homicides and violent crimes in Houston while also building relationships with the community.
"(Houston is) a major city with major crime," Finner said last month. "When we talk in terms of trust and building relationships and respecting people, we talk about the police department and the community. It’s time everybody take some responsibility and come together."
Houston's murder rate was on the rise in 2020 with at least 400 killings by the end of the year — a trend possibly tied to impacts from the pandemic, the mayor said in an interview late last year.
More recently, the family of Nicolas Chavez, a man who was killed by Houston police, filed a $100 million lawsuit against the city and five of its officers. And the mother of a baby accidentally shot by police also recently said she planned to sue the department. Last year was also a deadly one for police staff, with several on-duty deaths or killings reported.