HOUSTON (KIAH) — It was a bombshell announcement that rocked the Houston Police Department earlier this year.

Since 2016, HPD has dropped more than 260,000 cases — including more than 4,000 sexual assaults — citing a lack of personnel.

Internal investigations ensued, and officers from the rank-and-file to top brass were consumed with them.

That’s the reasoning Houston Mayor John Whitmire gave Wednesday for accepting HPD Chief Troy Finner’s sudden retirement late Tuesday night.

“Part of the consideration is that the current investigations into suspended cases have become such a distraction that I was convinced that the department had lost some of its focus,” Whitmire said during Wednesday’s Houston City Council meeting.

Council members also commented on Finner’s retirement, all of them speaking highly of his work as chief for the past three years and in various other roles at HPD in the 31 years prior.

They also praised Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite, who Whitmire named acting HPD chief Tuesday night.