Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced today the members of the newly created Independent Review Committee he has appointed to assess the Houston Police Department’s handling and resolution of suspended incident reports dating back to 2016.
The Committee will be led by Chair Ellen Cohen, the former state representative and City Council member, who will be joined by Texas Ranger, Captain Jeff Owles, Christina Nowak, Rev. Leon Preston, and Arturo Michel.
Mayor Whitmire has created the Committee to ensure transparency, maintain public trust, and prioritize the victims who reported crimes and seek justice.
“The Independent Review Committee members represent a cross-section of the experience, credibility, and representation of individuals across the City of Houston,” said Mayor Whitmire. “I have asked them to go to work immediately to analyze the collected data to identify trends, patterns, and discrepancies in the handling and closing incident reports. The Committee will verify the accuracy and completeness of the information obtained from HPD by comparing it to independent sources where available and appropriate. “
HPD Chief Troy Finner was not at the news conference.
"The Committee will be accountable to me, and ultimately to all Houstonians who deserve a police department they can trust and to be assured that when they report an incident, HPD will investigate it and not toss it aside because someone wrongly determined there was insufficient personnel to examine the details of an alleged crime," said Mayor Whitmire. "This should never have happened. Under my watch, with the help of the Committee, we are putting a stop to it."