Convenience Big Store: HPD's dropped cases scandal raising complicated questions

April 29, 2024

Digital Discovery Sale: 25¢ for Unlimited Digital Access
Join our community of subscribers
who enjoy the satisfaction of
finding something new every day.
Act Now

Good morning, Houston.

Happy Monday! Yesterday, Texans receiver Tank Dell suffered minor injuries in a Florida shooting on Saturday night, the Texans announced in a statement Sunday afternoon. Dell was released from a Florida hospital after being treated for minor injuries, the team said.

☁️ Temperature check: High of 88; low of 70. Justin's insight: Storms will be possible early in the day, but it should dry out by the afternoon. Warm and humid, with highs in the mid-80s and heat index values near 90. Read more here.

Asha Gilbert, Audience Editor

asha.gilbert@houstonchronicle.com

Best of the Bayou

Today we're talking about HPD's dropped cases scandal raising complicated questions about the city's actual crime rate...

If you read one thing: A Chronicle analysis found nearly 67,000 reports suspended by Houston Police due to lack of personnel never made it into the city's crime statistics. Experts explain what might have happened.

What did experts say about the HPD?

Edward Claughton, founder and CEO of PRI Management Group, which advises police departments across the country on records management, said most police department's divide things between case status and disposition. The statuses – open, closed, cleared by arrest, cleared by exception and unfounded – are standardized and are what is reported to the FBI.

Police are only supposed to include criminal offenses in their NIBRS data, Asher said, so using an internal record system can help them track incidents that may have yet to be proven criminal in nature.

"You're acknowledging the things that you don't know," Asher said. "You're still investigating, you're serving the public. You may not have an answer. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try to get an answer."

What does the HPD say?

In a social media post shared earlier this month, Houston police officials said some of the suspended reports were filed for civil – not criminal – matters, like insurance claims, suspicious circumstances and other reasons solely related to documentation purposes. It's why officials have insisted on using the term "incident reports" when referring to the suspended items, despite initially calling them "cases."

Read Matt deGrood and Amelia Winger's full story here.

Stay in the Loop

Photo by: Susan Barber

📰 Need to Know

Texans receiver Tank Dell suffers minor injuries in Florida shooting: "Dell is doing well and is on his way back to Houston," a Texans spokesperson said.
Rolling Stones shout out Texans and Ninfa at Houston tour kickoff: The Rolling Stones shiw included all the singalong classics, a few rarities and lots of Houston shoutouts.
Fact check: Is Kamala Harris right on the source of guns for school shootings? "The numbers that I have seen suggest that as many as 75% of school shootings resulted from a gun that was not secured," Vice President Kamala Harris said.
Police hiring in US increases for first time since before pandemic, survey finds: U.S. police agencies reported higher numbers of new officers than in the previous four years, according to the Police Executive Research Forum.
Historic warehouses to be transformed into hip project in The Heights: The Heights continues to evolve as Radom Capital and Triten Real Estate plan an ambitious 4.5-acre adaptive reuse of the turn-of-the-century and vintage warehouses in the Heights.
Houston ISD students earned lower SAT, ACT scores during 2022-23 year: Houston ISD student performance on the ACT and SAT dipped slightly during the 2022-2023 academic year, mirroring statewide trends, according to recent reports from the district.

💼 Business

Mazda's CX-50 Turbo Meridian SUV is a soft-roader for the masses: Its rugged appearance feels more suited for a mindset that buys Red Wing boots and Carhartt jackets for fashion rather than function.
What to know about National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi: As the national climate adviser to President Joe Biden, Ali Zaidi is the administration's point man on how to transition the nation away from oil and other fossil fuels.

🚗 Outside the Loop

Health-conscious concept coming to former Woodlands Ace Hardware: Two health-conscious concepts are coming to the former Ace Hardware in the Indian Springs Shopping Center in The Woodlands.
New restaurants in Cypress: Hot chicken, crawfish and sushi: Hot chicken popular on TikTok, pizza and sushi restaurants are opening their doors in the Cypress area.
Vivaldi Music Academy relocates to Sugar Land. Here's where the new location is: Vivaldi Music Academy is moving to a bigger space in Sugar Land to welcome more students.

Point of View

Even though a convicted criminal is not prohibited from running for president of the United States, I, for one, would not want a convicted criminal to be my president.

Photo by: Lauren Mitchell

I must be living on a different planet than the Supreme Court | Opinion

The Supreme Court said it would decide this question: "Whether and if so to what extent does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office."

Dan Patrick the environmentalist? | Editorial: Not the person we'd expect to call for a halt in new cement production plant permits.

Houston vs. All Y'all

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, right, greets safety Jimmie Ward (1) before an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023, in Houston.

Photo by: Brett Coomer/Staff Photographer

How Texans roster looks after the draft: Deep and competitive with one hole

The Houston Texans added several needs in the 2024 NFL draft. Here is how their depth chart is looking after the draft.

Astros complete first sweep of season in Framber Valdez's return: The Astros' offense backed Framber Valdez in his return from injury on the final day of Houston's Mexico City series vs. Colorado.
Micah Parsons said what? C.J. Stroud tells funny story from 76ers game: The Texans' C.J. Stroud and Cowboys' Micah Parsons sat courtside together for the Knicks-76ers playoff game on Sunday.
Astros' starting rotation inching closer to whole: Cristian Javier's impending return from injured list combined with return of Justin Verlader and Framber Valdez has rotation returning to normal.
What to make of the Dusty Baker factor in Astros' slow start: One month into the season, the Oakland Athletics have been better than the Astros. Who saw that coming? Injury-plagued Houston hasn't been the same since Dusty Baker retired.

Get Out

Blue Willow Bookshop presents author Jasmine Guillory.

Photo by: Yalonda M. James, Staff / The Chronicle

Jasmine Guillory among the authors at Houston book events this week

The romance novelist will be in conversation with Reggie of Books Are Pop Culture Podcast at this year's BIPOC Book Fest.

Turkey Leg Hut restaurant unaffected after warehouse fire: For the second month in a row, a fire strikes a Turkey Leg Hut property amid questions surrounding the business.
Houston developer aims to bring more filmmaking to Houston: The former furniture store and warehouse on Fondren will be used for movie and TV production and design-oriented retail.
In Salman Rushdie's new book 'Knife,' the author addresses his attack: Despite the violence that sent Rushdie to the hospital, "Knife" is a book remarkably void of bitterness and existential hand-wringing. Instead, there's an emotional elegance at work.

This is a good read: Perpetually touring, even as his 91st birthday is upon us, Willie Nelson very much belongs to the road.

But after deciding "Nashville was the roughest" following an interminable decade in Music City, Nelson returned to his native Texas and has waltzed across the state with great regularity ever since. From his birth in Abbott to his rebirth in Austin and the Hill Country area, Nelson has put little pins in towns all over the state.

We've mapped out just 50 of the places in Texas that have played some part in a nine-decade story of Willie Nelson and Texas.

— Asha Gilbert