HOUSTON — Nearly three months after former Houston Police Chief Troy Finner announced his retirement, a new chief of police was introduced on Friday.
J. Noe Diaz has been chief of the Katy Police Department for the last five years. Katy Mayor Dusty Thiele called him a "remarkable public servant" who improved efficiency, responsiveness and community engagement.
At a news conference on Friday, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said Diaz was highly acclaimed and recommended among peers.
"I talked to chiefs around the state, I talked to legislators, I talked to some local council members and it kept taking me back to Noe Diaz," Whitmire said. “This is a fresh start. That’s what I really want you to take away from here today. A fresh start at HPD."
Diaz will take over the role permanently this month.
He said addressing staffing issues is among his priorities along with getting the department past the suspended cases scandal. But Diaz said fighting crime is the mayor’s main objective – so it will be his as well.
“I’m not going to get on my soapbox about the crime rate or anything like that – but I think that this city should be the pinnacle," Diaz said.
His career includes an 11-year stint as a Texas Ranger and work as a deputy constable and correctional officer.
“My vision is to get back to being a servant leader working collaboratively with all the other agencies. I already have those existing partnerships,” Diaz said.
Diaz is jumping from a department with about 70 officers to a police force of 5,000. The huge difference does not immediately alarm the Houston Police Officers Union.
“If you put the right people in place and I think that he will, I think we’ll move forward and we will not have an issue," HPOU President Douglas Griffith said.
The announcement comes at a critical time for the department and just days after acting Chief Larry Satterwhite presented a report to Houston City Council about controversial coding that led to more than 260,000 cases being suspended. The scandal cost former Chief Troy Finner his job.
As for Satterwhite, he will take over as director of the Mayor's Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security.