How Geoffrey Noble plans to reshape Massachusetts State Police amid controversies

CBS News

6 hours ago

FRAMINGHAM – Nearly one year into his tenure as the head of Massachusetts' largest police force, State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble is sitting down with WBZ's Kristina Rex to talk about the department's image and reforms he feels are necessary to restore public confidence.
Noble, a Rhode Island native, was a state trooper in New Jersey for much of his career, including 17 years investigating deaths. He was named Massachusetts' new state police colonel in September 2024 after a large external search by Governor Healey.
Noble took the job knowing that the state police had just come off of a major overtime scandal, the death of a recruit during academy training, and the first Karen Read trial.
"I worked my entire career and many times I got to work alongside the Massachusetts State Police and the women and men of the Massachusetts State Police in in an operational capacity and through all those experiences I developed a profound respect for the Massachusetts State Police for the institution of the Massachusetts State Police and for what it represents," Noble said. "Overseeing what was occurring and in the shortfalls and the scandals that had happened – that was not the Massachusetts State Police. That was not representative of the Massachusetts State Police that I had gotten to know personally over the years."
Noble believes the people of Massachusetts are so frustrated by state police failures because they see the potential for the agency.
"This belief in the Massachusetts State Police and the excellence that it should represent, and this slippage that has occurred – that resonates with the community equally as it resonates with me so that's why I'm here," he explained. "We all agree that the Massachusetts State Police needs to be held accountable. The public agrees with that and our troopers, I can assure you, agree with that."
Noble was the final decision maker for the firing of former state police Trooper Michael Proctor, who was fired for inappropriate text messages about Karen Read and his handling of the investigation into John O'Keefe's death.
"That's a decision that's got my name on it and I stand behind that decision," he said.
Proctor is currently appealing his termination.
"Our mission needs to be laser focused on finding the truth, period, hard stop," Noble said. "That's what the mission of a detective is, is to uncover the truth regardless of what direction that it takes you and to follow the facts and evidence of your investigation and to do so with integrity, confidentiality and with the professionalism that we expect."
When asked whether he felt Proctor led the investigation into O'Keefe's death in pursuit of the truth, Noble said, "a reminder to our core mission [of finding truth] is appropriate here."
There have been systemic changes in response to Proctor's firing. Recently, the first group of 500 troopers who investigate serious crimes attended a mandatory continuing education training – one that Noble says will be the first of many. "Any trooper that's assigned to a specialized unit will be required to undergo advanced training to keep up with the changing dynamics or the environment but also be adaptive," Noble said.
Proctor was the only trooper fired for his handling of the case, but Troopers Brian Tully and Yuriy Bukhenik were both relocated out of the Norfolk County District Attorney's office.
"Ultimately the transfer of troopers lies with me," Noble explained. "It was felt across multiple levels that we needed to make some changes. Putting new commanders and new supervisors in key positions, particularly in Norfolk County, I firmly believe was a decision in the best interest of the Commonwealth."
Still. Noble recognizes that the investigation done by state police likely contributed to the outcome of the case.
Investigators and prosecutors wholeheartedly believe, they have indicated, that Karen Read was responsible for the death of John O'Keefe. Read was acquitted of all major charges in June.
"Do you feel as though state police's performance in that investigation contributed to the lack of conviction at the end of the day?" WBZ's Kristina Rex asked. "Absolutely," Noble replied. "The investigative body has to look through that and to say, 'why? Did we not give the jurors enough information…was our investigation lacking?'"
"I think we, the state police, have to look in the mirror and say 'yeah what could we have done better,'" he explained.
When asked if the investigation into the death of John O'Keefe was formally closed or whether there would be more investigation, Noble said that decision was in the hands of Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey.
WBZ asked the DA's office the same question – to which a spokesperson replied, referencing special prosecutor Hank Brennan's post trial statement, in which Brennan states, "After an independent and thorough review of all the evidence, I concluded that the evidence led to one person, and only one person," meaning Karen Read.
Asked if he feels confident that if a similar situation like the death of John O'Keefe were to happen now, if his troopers would behave differently, Noble replied, "I have every bit of confidence sitting here today that if we have an investigation that we're called to today regardless of the scope regardless of the complexity that we…[can] ensure that our investigations right now are being done to excellent standards right now."
Immediately before Noble started his tenure as Colonel, a state police recruit died during a boxing training exercise at the academy.
Enrique Delgado Garcia's death sparked outrage and protests about safety practices in police training. His family has demanded answers.
An independent attorney has been appointed to investigate the state police academy training, and Garcia's death.
"By design, Massachusetts State Police is walled off from that investigation," Noble said, explaining that he knows no further details than the public regarding the investigation into Garcia's death. Noble said he thinks appointing a special investigator was the right move.
"We, like so many others – the community, the family – we want the same answers," he said. "We are eager to hear the results of the investigation."
In addition, police experts from across the country are currently observing state police training, with the plan to write a full report that Noble promises will be shared with the public when it is completed.
Still, he says the department is working to improve its training on its own in the meantime. External police chiefs and experts from across the country have been welcomed in to watch training, and will issue a report that Noble promises will be shown to the public when it is ready.
"Our resolve and our commitment to ensure that we do everything in our power to not have that [happen] again is never ending," Noble said.
Another area of criticism for the colonel has been the death of Sandra Birchmore, a pregnant Canton woman whose death was ruled a suicide when it was investigated by state police.
Later, federal investigators intervened and have since arrested former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell. They've charged him with murdering Birchmore and staging her death like a suicide.
"Where and why did state police drop the ball there?" Rex asked Noble. "That investigation certainly is ongoing right now so I can't comment specifically on that investigation," he said, but he corrected the perception that having federal investigators intervene necessarily reflects failure. "We welcome another agency coming in and looking at an investigation," he said.
"I think there's a little bit of misinformation out there that there is on whether it's that particular case to others we welcome [federal intervention]. There's no space between us [and the feds]; we want the same thing," Noble said.
In response to the fallout from several public scandals, state police online recruiting efforts have been met with harsh backlash.
The department currently has around 2,400 sworn and 650 unsworn officers, plus two ongoing academies of trainees, Noble said. He described staffing as "healthy," but said the department is working to recruit due to expected retirements of senior staff. With big events like FIFA coming to the state in 2026, he anticipates the agency will need to ramp up staffing – hence, the online recruiting.
But every post draws widespread backlash. "I can't believe state police have to recruit," one post read. "It used to be one of the best jobs in the Commonwealth; now it's a punchline."
"My response to that is: engage with us, talk to us," Noble said. "Through these messages and through our recruiting campaign we are formally opening that door to say: learn about us; challenge us."
"I think that anytime we see an erosion of public trust, anytime a police department has an incident that calls into question the integrity of the institution or the individual troopers, absolutely there is an impact on recruiting," Noble said.
In June 2025, Colonel Noble announced what he's named "The Excellence Initiative," which "underscores the Department's unwavering commitment to upholding its values of integrity and professionalism, ensuring operational excellence and accountability, fostering community engagement and public trust," according to his announcement.
The initiative is a top-down approach to try to bring the state police back to its expected standards, he explained.
"We're not running away from the tough questions and that's not just me saying that, that's the entire department," Noble said.
His message to the public? "We take their expectations profoundly…The people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts expect and deserve that their Mass. State Police are the best in the business, are out there achieving and executing the job of policing to the highest standards and they should expect that."