Healey goes outside of state police for new superintendent; retired NJ trooper to take helm

BOSTON — Gov. Maura T. Healey used the new powers afforded to her under law and picked the retired second-in-command of the New Jersey State Police to take over as the next superintendent and colonel of the Massachusetts State Police.

Geoffrey Noble, who retired as New Jersey State Police lieutenant colonel in 2022 and has been working as a regional president for a private security firm since, will take over command of the Massachusetts State Police in October, Healey's office announced Wednesday afternoon.

Healey is the first governor able to take advantage of a provision of the 2020 policing reform law allowing the State Police colonel to be hired from outside of the department's current ranks.

"Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Noble has dedicated his career to public service, rising to the highest levels of the New Jersey State Police and delivering results on some of the most pressing issues facing law enforcement. He is a principled, respected leader who is widely praised for his integrity, compassion and ability to bring people together," Healey said. "I’m confident that he is the leader that our hardworking State Police team and the people of Massachusetts deserve."

The State Police has been under the leadership of Interim Col. John Mawn Jr. since Col. Christopher Mason retired in February 2023. Healey praised Mawn Wednesday as "a model for all of the men and women of the Massachusetts State Police and for the generations of troopers to follow."

The State Police has been in the spotlight of controversy numerous times in recent years, with concerns about the force's culture given new life this summer when a trooper's crude text messages were read aloud on the stand during the widely watched Karen Read murder trial. Healey said last year that she was looking for someone with "integrity and managerial competence" to lead the department on a more permanent basis.

Noble joined the New Jersey State Police in 1995, following two years as a summer police officer in Nantucket, according to Healey's office. His time in New Jersey included stints as a uniformed patrol officer, a field training officer, detective, commander of the New Jersey attorney general’s Shooting Response Team, commander of the Forensic and Technical Services Section, chief of staff for the entire agency and as deputy superintendent from 2018 to 2022.

Since 2022, Noble has been working for Inter-Con Security Systems Inc. He was raised in Rhode Island and spent much of his childhood on Cape Cod, Healey's office said.

Another issue before the State Police in Massachusetts is allegations of illicit recordings of defendents by some troopers. The matter was heard in a Fitchburg courtroom.

More: Worcester DA drops 25 criminal cases because of illegal state police recordings

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Healey goes outside of state police for new superintendent; retired NJ trooper to take helm