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Former NOPD top commander named Knoxville Chief of Police

Paul Noel, a 25-year veteran who serves as Chief of the Investigative Services Bureau would become the latest in a steady exodus of leaders from the NOPD.
Credit: WWL-TV
Commander Paul Noel of the Second District of the NOPD addresses the media.

NEW ORLEANS — One of the NOPD’s top commanders was appointed this week as the new Chief of Police in Knoxville, Tenn, according to multiple sources. 

Paul Noel, a 25-year veteran who serves as Chief of the Investigative Services Bureau would become the latest in a steady exodus of high-ranking leaders from the beleaguered NOPD.

Noel, who previously served as chief of all NOPD field operations, would follow last month’s departure of Darryl Albert, who is now the police chief in Montgomery, Ala. Jeffrey Walls, a longtime district commander, left in December to become the police chief in Ketchikan, Alaska. 

In another high-profile departure, then-Deputy Superintendent John Thomas retired in December but has remained in city government as the city’s Director of Homeland Security.

The brain drain of top NOPD brass comes at a perilous time for the severely understaffed police department, which is losing officers faster than new recruits can be hired. The current staffing of just over 1,000 officers is an all-time low, according to City Council data analyst Jeff Asher. 

NOPD released a statement on the appointment: 

NOPD would like to congratulate Deputy Chief Paul Noel on his appointment as Chief of Police for the city of Knoxville, Tenn. 

Paul has been a dedicated public servant and an invaluable leader for this department and city for over two decades. His advocacy for incorporating the principles of active bystandership as part of the core training at NOPD is being adopted by agencies around the country. 

While his departure is certainly a big loss of NOPD, it is yet another example of how the Constitutional policing practiced at NOPD is a model that other departments are looking to as the reforms demanded by the citizens of this nation are implemented. 

Noel had previously been named as a finalist for the top police job in Chattanooga, Tenn., but that position went to another candidate.

 Local media in Knoxville have reported that current Police Chief Eve Thomas is retiring in the coming days.

A New Orleans native, Noel joined the NOPD in 1997. His social media pages various high-profile leadership posts include Second District Commander, Chief of Field Operations, and his current post as Chief of the Investigative Services Bureau, which includes the Homicide Bureau.

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