City of Houston taps Katy's former police chief, Noe Diaz, to lead HPD

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Mayor John Whitmire named a new chief for the Houston Police Department Thursday.

Former Texas Ranger and Katy Police Chief J. Noe Diaz is expected to become the department's new head on Aug. 14 after being confirmed by the City Council.

Diaz will be formally introduced on Friday at 11 a.m.

According to a letter Thursday from Whitmire to Houston City Council, Diaz's career in law enforcement began in 1987 as a correctional officer with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In 1994, he graduated from the University of Houston-Downtown Police Academy and joined the Harris County Constable Precinct Five Office. In 1996, the Texas Department of Public Safety selected him to attend the DPS Academy A-96. He served as a trooper at the Katy Highway Patrol, and in 2001, he was promoted to the Narcotics Division of the State Police stationed in Houston. In 2008, he was appointed as a Texas Ranger, where he served in Rio Grande City but then returned to Houston.

"I think he's a great pick for the job," said Tony Leal, a retired chief of the Texas Rangers who worked with Diaz for 20 years before he became the police chief in Katy, a department of less than 100 officers.

"A leader is a leader. Whether it's a leader of many or a leader of few and I think that's what the department is looking for. That's what the mayor is looking for. Just like at DPS, every now and then, someone is brought in from the outside to put new eyes on something and I think that's what happening now," Leal said.

With the new top cop named, Whitmire also announced that Acting Police Chief Larry Satterwhite will also take a new assignment as the next director of the mayor's office of public safety and homeland security. Satterwhite will start his new role on Aug. 14.

"Larry has been an outstanding leader in law enforcement, demonstrating unwavering dedication and commitment to the safety and well-being of Houstonians," Whitmire said in a letter to council members.

The announcement comes a day after HPD released a report on the 264,000 cases suspended due to inadequate staffing. Over a quarter of a million cases filed by crime victims since 2016 were labeled with a "Suspended - Lack of Personnel" code.

Whitmire said there would be an internal investigation into what went wrong, and on Wednesday, Satterwhite presented the report to the Houston City Council.

The 41-page report found that investigators were using this "SL code" as they were told. And there weren't guidelines on how to use it based on certain crimes.

"We believe we have good people inside, but sometimes, it takes someone from the outside to come in and shake things up and make us better," said the president of the Houston Police Officers' Union, Douglas Griffith, about the Diaz appointment. "I think he's going to do just fine here."

READ MORE: Houston Police Department releases long-awaited report on suspended cases scandal

The fallout has been tremendous over the past six months. Whitmire accepted the retirement of Troy Finner in May, and the now-former Houston Police Chief recently said he believes he was pushed out to bury the scandal.

"I'm proud to take the blows. But tell the whole story," Finner told ABC13's partners at the Houston Chronicle.

When Finner retired, he still had supporters on the Houston City Council, including Councilwoman Carolyn Evans-Shabazz. Thursday night, she told ABC13 she respects the mayor's right to choose a new chief but will be keeping a watchful eye on the situation.

"Houston is a very diverse city and we certainly want someone with cultural sensitivity in regards to people who live in the city and are looking to him and the department to protect and keep us safe," she said.

Finner previously claimed he first heard of the code on Nov. 4, 2021, and ordered his leaders never to use it again.

However, a 2018 email obtained by 13 Investigates shows Finner knew of the coding being used at least once, meaning he was aware of it three years earlier than he had previously claimed.

The July 20, 2018, email was addressed to several high-ranking HPD leaders, including then-Chief Art Acevedo and Finner, who was an executive assistant chief at the time.

Satterwhite took over after Finner left, but there were many questions about who was going to lead the department permanently going forward.