Healey selects Geoffrey Noble as new colonel of Massachusetts

Noble called the position “a true honor.”

“The hardworking men and women of the State Police report to duty every day to keep the people of Massachusetts safe, and they deserve a leader who is accessible, transparent and committed to the highest standards of integrity and excellence,” he said.

Critics say he faces the daunting task of bringing a culture of reform to a department that has been dogged by scandals that have shaken public confidence in the department and undermined morale. In recent years, more than a dozen officers have been convicted of overtime fraud, and others have been charged in an alleged bribery scheme involving commercial driver’s licenses. The former head of the police union was convicted of accepting bribes.

The department recently disciplined a police officer who was the lead investigator in the high-profile Karen Read murder case after his testimony revealed he sent vulgar and degrading text messages about Read to friends, family and superiors, raising questions about his impartiality.

The effort to select a new leader follows the February 2023 retirement of former Col. Christopher Mason, who has pledged to reform the force. The agency has had an interim leader for more than a year and a half.

The Rev. John Taylor, chief chaplain of the New Jersey State Police, said he worked with Noble on community outreach in Trenton, where Taylor is pastor at Friendship Baptist Church. He described Noble as an honest, straightforward man whose vision of law enforcement includes working with the community. Noble served on a task force with Taylor in Trenton that tried to introduce young people to police officers through initiatives such as swimming lessons.

“One of the things I liked about him was that if he was working with young people and they wanted to go into law enforcement, fine, but if they didn’t, he still wanted them to come out with a good perspective,” Taylor said.

Noble “doesn’t take crap,” Taylor said, and if there’s a problem, “he won’t deny what’s in front of him.”

The Department of State Police employs more than 3,000 sworn and civilian employees and has a budget of $500 million. Troopers patrol state roads and perform a variety of specialized and investigative duties throughout the state.

In selecting Noble, Healey used new powers granted by the state’s 2020 police reform law to reach outside the department’s ranks and select a new leader, a move critics had urged, saying the cultural changes the agency needs could only come from someone with a fresh perspective.

Noble’s nomination shows that “our leadership recognizes that policing needs to do something different,” said Sophia Hall of the advocacy group Lawyers for Civil Rights. “Reform sometimes means introducing new players, new systems, new policies.”

Retired state police Maj. Dennis Galvin, president of the Massachusetts Association for Professional Law Enforcement, said he appreciated that Noble came from a large department that likely would have to grapple with police reform issues.

Galvin added that the key question now will be how Noble and Healey will work together and how much freedom and support she will give to reform efforts.

“This will be a test for the governor,” Galvin said. “How important is it to her to reform the state police?”

Noble graduated from Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket, RI, and then attended Seton Hall University. His LinkedIn page says he served as a New Jersey State Police trooper from 1995 to January 2022, rising to deputy commander of the department before retiring. He has since served as regional president of Inter-Con Security Systems.

Healey’s administration praised Noble’s experience running the day-to-day operations of a department larger than the Massachusetts State Police, with a focus on implementing professional standards. The administration also said Noble was tasked with taking over the management of New Jersey’s state crime labs, which had been hit by a scandal that led to thousands of cases being dismissed. Noble, the administration said, implemented policy changes that eliminated a backlog of 17,000 cases.

Massachusetts crime labs have also been embroiled in scandals involving abuse and inefficiency, including the Annie Dookhan case, in which a lab employee was convicted of submitting false test results.

In New Jersey, Noble also led a team responsible for investigating police use of deadly force and for developing the New Jersey Gun Crime Protocol, a statewide strategy to reduce violent crime that has led to a decline in police-involved shootings, Healey’s office said.

Noble will earn $246,566 a year plus a $5,000 signing bonus. Starting next July, he will be eligible for an annual performance bonus of up to 18 percent of his base salary, the governor’s office said.

The search for a new colonel was led by a six-person committee appointed by the governor that included experienced law enforcement administrators, police oversight experts and the founder of the anti-violence nonprofit Roca.

Healey also considered several internal candidates, including current interim Col. John E. Mawn Jr. In a statement Wednesday, Mawn congratulated Noble and praised Healey for appointing him.

“At this point, when the success of the department is so closely tied to the success of Geoffrey Noble, I will do everything in my power to support him, and I will ask every state police officer to do the same,” Mawn said.

Massachusetts State Police Association President Brian Williams said union members “look forward to working with him and building a strong relationship with him and his leadership team.”

Retired New Jersey State Police Lt. Col. Jeanne Hengemuehle, who worked with Nobel for years, said her former boss was “a man of high integrity and a deep sense of empathy.”

“He puts people in a position where they can be successful,” Hengemuehle said. “If I could go back and be a cop again, go to Massachusetts and work for Geoff again, I would.”

Shelley Murphy of the Globe contributed to this article.

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Sean Cotter can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @cotterreporter.