KATY, TEXAS POLICE CHIEF CHOSEN AS HOUSTON'S NEW CHIEF

By Howie Katz

 

 

Houston Mayor John Whitmire (left) formally introduced former Katy Police Chief J. Noe Diaz as the Houston Police Department's new leader on Friday.  

 

J. Noe Diaz was a Texas ranger for 11 years and retired to become the Katy, Texas police chief in 2019. Katy is a city of 25,000 just west of Houston. Diaz leaves a department of 91 officers to take over a department of 6,091 officers.

The Houston Police Department is currently struggling with a monumental scandal involving a failure to investigate more than 264,000 crimes - that's right, 264,000 - during the past eight years. Those cases were simply suspended under a 'Lack of Personnel' code.

Civic activist Jay Wall recently declared HPD desperately needs someone who knows how to run a 21st century PD. I'm not sure Diaz fits that bill.

 

 

Former New York Police Commissioner (twice) and Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton

 

It's too bad Mayor Whitmire did not try to coax Bill Bratton out of retirement to become Houston's chief. Bratton served twice as New York Police Commissioner and also as Los Angeles Police Chief. He has proven himself to be someone who knows how to run a 21st century PD.

Because Whitmire wanted a chief who was familiar with Houston but was not with HPD, he never looked far beyond Houston for a new chief of police.

I wish J. Noe Diaz lots of luck as Houston's chief of police. He'll need it.