Months of searching for Houston’s next full-time police chief ended with Mayor John Whitmire naming J. Noe Diaz, leader of the less than 100-person Katy Police Department, as Troy Finner’s replacement in charge of the nation’s fourth-largest city’s law enforcement agency.
“Chief Diaz brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of service and dedication to his new role,” Whitmire said Thursday in a letter to City Council members, who must vote on appointing the next chief.
The mayor praised Diaz’s work with the Narcotics Division of the State Police, where he was stationed in Houston. In that time, he worked with the Harris County Organized Crime Task Force, Houston police, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI.
Diaz was appointed as a Texas Ranger in 2008, serving in Rio Grande City before returning to Houston. As a Ranger, he spent over a decade
working on what the mayor called high-profile public corruption investigations.Diaz will now step into to run one of the largest police departments in the country, one reeling from a recent scandal that involved more than 260,000 dropped cases that toppled the former chief. The department has a budget of more than $1 billion, a staff of 6,288 and a dire need to replenish the ranks of police officers after a wave of retirements and resignations.
“The comments I’ve gotten are that he’s a fair, even-handed guy,” Mike Knox, a retired Houston Police Department officer and a Republican candidate for Harris County sheriff, said of conversations he’s had with Katy police officers. “He’s not too political — he’ll just follow the law and do his job.”
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While multiple people with knowledge of Diaz’s tenure in Katy praised the work he’s done, Knox acknowledged there’s a big adjustment in running a 70-officer department versus a department with more than 5,000 officers.
“Working with 70 officers as opposed to 5,100 will be a little different for him,” Knox said. “But I think he’s a smart guy and will be able to do just fine.”
There’s a companion article with more biographical details about new Chief Diaz. He certainly has plenty of experience in law enforcement, in a variety of roles. I don’t know enough about him to say more, but he seems fine. The point raised by former CM Knox about the big step up in department size is the main concern one might have at this point. It doesn’t need to be an issue, but the dropped cases scandal is very much about management and oversight, and I’m sure there will be a learning curve. I wish him well in getting his arms around it. Outgoing Acting Chief Larry Satterwaite also now has a new gig, so best of luck to him as well. The Mayor’s press release is here, and Stace, the Press, and Houston Landing have more.