HPD warns against tracing stolen property if the case cannot be verified due to staffing issues

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Houston police are warning you to be careful about retrieving your stolen items. They have staffing problems, which means not every crime gets evaluated.

Christian Briones recently had his car stolen and is now wondering if he will ever get it back.

“It feels like we’re on our own,” Briones said.

Briones went to practice early Monday morning and returned to his stolen car. Luckily, his wallet with an Apple Air tag was in the vehicle.

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“I put it in my wallet just in case. I feel like people steal wallets all the time, otherwise you could lose them somewhere,” Briones said.

He tracked the air tag to a home in the HPD jurisdiction and called police. He waited at the end of the block to show the officers the house. After 10 hours, he said he finally received a call from police asking if he still wanted help.

“It's obvious. What do you think? “I’m negligent here and of course I need help,” Briones said.

Briones said that to his knowledge, police still have not taken any action in his case. In a recent PSA, HPD said the number of people tracking down their stolen property is increasing and they want people to stop.

“Avoid confronting the suspect, even if you know who it is. Putting yourself in a sticky situation can make things worse,” the HPD video advises.

It's safe and smart advice for people to follow, but ABC13 staffers aren't sure if they follow the advice they'll ever get their stuff back.

“I feel like it’s pointless at this point. I have a feeling it’s not going to happen,” Briones said.

SEE ALSO: Woman fed up with mail thefts, sends herself Apple AirTag as bait and catches suspects

Former acting HPD Chief Larry Satterwhite said earlier this year, during the ongoing suspended cases scandal, that they don't have the manpower to investigate all property crimes.

“We don’t have enough to commit all the crimes,” Satterwhite said.

According to HPD data, 99,123 property crimes were reported in 2023, but only 5,664, or about 5.7%, were solved. There have been 68,671 reports of property crimes so far this year, but only 3,648, or about 5.3%, have been solved.

ABC13 asked HPD about cases they were unable to investigate but did not respond. They simply sent a statement saying:

“The Houston Police Department takes every crime in the city seriously. While protecting lives and reducing violent crime is our top priority, we recognize that the vast majority of crimes reported to HPD are property crimes. Like many law enforcement agencies, HPD faces staffing challenges in patrol and police investigations that are well documented and directly impact clearance rates, we leverage technology and actively collaborate with other agencies and our community to maximize our resources and we encourage citizens to report any crime.

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