Houston sees 8.5% drop in violent crime, but the work continues, HPD chief says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A new report from Houston's top cop shows violent crimes in the city are trending down.

Chief Troy Finner and members of the Houston Police Department presented their end-of-year report to the city's Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee on Thursday.

There, they said that for 2022 so far, overall violent crime is down by 8.5% compared to the same time frame in 2021. Those violent crimes include sexual assault and homicides, both trending down compared to 2021.

Track crime in Houston with ABC13's Neighborhood Safety Tracker.

Finner said the numbers are still not where they want them to be, but did credit the public for helping reduce violent crime.

"It's not a thing where you just pat police officers on the back. You pat the entire community on the back. I want to be clear on this, we don't take the total credit for this, especially when you're looking at homicides. Everybody has to step up," Finner said. "People have to make better decisions. You have to watch your location. You have to watch who you're hanging with and what activities you're doing. Make better choices."

While he is proud of the downward trend, he said these numbers are still too high.

Thursday's presentation comes just hours after a very scary night on the streets for Houston police, where a suspect opened fire on officers using an AK-47-style weapon.

No officers were injured and the suspect was arrested.

The incident reiterates Chief Finner's message that there is more work to do.

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