Interview with new Pueblo Police Chief Chris Noeller, talks leadership style

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- During Monday nights Pueblo City Council meeting interim Police Chief Chris Noeller was confirmed as the permanent Police Chief.

Friday, KRDO sat down with Noeller to discuss his vision for the Pueblo Police Department, and address concerns about his leadership style, which has been questioned by some within the department.

Noeller was at the center of an internal investigation earlier this year after 10 complaints, including claims of discrimination, intimidation, and bullying, were filed by Pueblo police officers.

The report noted "numerous examples of Deputy Chief Noeller being difficult to work with, having a temper that is not productive in the workplace, and treating various individuals differently than others, and in many cases treating them poorly," according to the executive summary. The report described Noeller's leadership style as divisive. 

KRDO: What is your vision for the department moving forward?

Chief Chris Noeller: There are a few things that I want to focus on during my first year as chief. The first is the mental health of our officers. In the past, we really didn't focus on mental wellness with police officers, but it's become a bigger issue. We are going to focus on trying to bring different resources to the department to increase our officer's resilience.

KRDO: Is there anything that was done in the Pueblo Police Department in the past that can be changed moving forward now that you are the permanent Chief of Police?

Noeller: As always, we are always looking to improve. I think there are some ways that we can improve with recruiting and retention. In this era of law enforcement, it is very hard to recruit, and it's somewhat difficult to retain officers. We are having an increased amount of retirements. We have a lateral transfer program that we are going to be implementing in late August. Overall, I think it is vitally important to have a positive relationship with the people in our community.

KRDO: In April, there was a report released by an outside agency that listed things like, discrimination, intimidation, and bullying as characteristics of your leadership style. What do you have to say to the officers that made those complaints?

Noeller: My goal is to work with every officer in this organization, whether they filed a complaint on me or not. I want to have a positive interaction with them, but I can only control my half of that interaction. There is a level of accountability within a police organization that our community expects and that is not going to change. I am open to talking to anybody and I want to have a positive relationship with every officer within the organization. I am not always going to make everyone happy, but I want to have that positive relationship.

KRDO: You have 25 years of experience in the police force and in those years you built relationships with other officers in the Pueblo Police Department. Do you think that you can discipline officers when they make mistakes?

Noeller: I think I have a reputation for being fair. The standard is the standard. If you don't meet the standard, there is consequences. I hold everyone to the same level of accountability.

KRDO: Do you feel you have the complete trust of every officer within the department?

Noeller: As much as any leader ever does. Right now, I am in charge of over 260 personnel. I am sure that at any given time some of them feel positively about me and some of them don't. My goal as a leader is to accept ownership for my role as the leader, admit when I make mistakes. The goal is to learn from those mistakes and become a better leader.

KRDO: When you hear the word leadership, what comes to mind?

Noeller: Leadership is making the right decision at the right time. It's not about trying to make everybody happy. It's about doing what's right and encouraging others to do what is right. It's about mentoring people so that they can become better leaders themselves. I have four values that I believe in and those are: service, integrity, character, and excellence. What I can do every morning when I wake up is look in the mirror and know that I lived up to those four values for the majority of my career. Nobody is perfect, but those are the same four values that I want our officers to live up to and our civilian staff to live up to.