Houston PD Seeks Sex Victims Whose Reports Were Buried

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner assembled a large team of officers to try and locate thousands of sexual violence victims whose incident reports were suspended "due to lack of personnel", reports KHOU 11 News. He said more than 100 special assignment officers will visit the last known addresses of the people who filed reports. Another 32 investigators and supervisors are reaching out via phone or email, and advocates in the department's Victim Services Division will provide "trauma-informed support to survivors."

Finner said the Houston department had used the "due to lack of personnel" code since 2016, resulting in thousands of cases being placed on the back burner, amounting to 264,000 cases. Other city leaders apologized to the victims and called for a transparent investigation to find out what happened, along with accountability.