‘They Can Rely on Us’: Noriega Aims to Restore Confidence in WPD

WATONGA – In December the City of Watonga hired John Noriega as its new chief of police, ending six months of interim leadership at the department.

Noriega, a former Blaine County deputy and Langston police chief, is now tasked with building back the force, recruiting new officers and restoring public confidence in the WPD. He told the Watonga Republican that has been a primary focus of his first month on the job.

“I want to build the department back up to where the city and the citizens can be proud of it,” Noriega said last week. “I knew from the past, there’s been a lot of turmoil. I want to move past that, and want the people in town to realize this is a new administration, and they can rely on us and call us when they need us.”

Noriega grew up in Cashion and said he knew from an early age that he wanted to enter law enforcement. “I remember when I graduated high school, I asked an Oklahoma City police officer, how do I get into the career?” Noriega said.

The officer recommended the military, as it would give him good training and take him up to the minimum age requirement of 21. “So that’s what I did,” Noriega said, serving in the U.S. Navy for five years based primarily in San Diego.

Noriega left the military in late 2003 and caught on with the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office the following summer. Other than a yearlong stint at Oklahoma County, Noriega was with Blaine County for about eight years.

Noriega later went back to school, then served with the Department of Defense Police at Tinker Air Force Base. “I wanted to advance my career a little more,” he said, so after six years at Tinker Noriega took his first chief’s job in Langston, where he says he built the department up “from ground zero.”

“I started out by myself (in Langston),” Noriega said. “I was the only officer there for the first 11 months. When I left, I had a handful of full time officers, new equipment and a new facility.”

Noriega’s last job before Watonga was with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where he traveled widely to reservations across the country. And while Noriega enjoyed that job, he said, it took him far away from his daughters for huge portions of the year.

“I was gone way too much,” he said. So he bought a house near his hometown and applied to the open chief’s job in Watonga, where he had served with the sheriff’s office all those years ago.

“I love the area out here,” Noriega said. “I worked here many years before, and people out here still know me. I know a lot of people in this town, and so far it’s been very welcoming.”

Noriega said his goals now will be to modernize the department with better equipment, recruit more officers and have more training opportunities for them. He has begun applying for grants through organizations like the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group.

“It takes time,” he said. “Nothing happens overnight in a city government … but we’re taking steps to (get) better.”

The department is currently hiring reserve officers, and applications are available through Watonga City Hall. Reserve officers are paid in Watonga, Noriega said, whereas many departments’ reserves are volunteers.

Noriega said all law enforcement bodies are facing recruiting challenges these days, but hopes the city’s good pay and new leadership will attract more applicants.

The new chief’s tenure has not come without its challenges already. In late December, some Watonga residents expressed frustration online when a Watonga officer shot and killed a pet dog in an alleyway (Noriega told the Republican that the officer tried to fend off the dog using non-lethal means, but was forced to shoot when the dog continued attacking).

Still, Noriega said he is enjoying the challenge at WPD and looks forward to serving the city.

When he’s not on the job, Noriega said he enjoys building furniture and spending time with his daughters.