Serving Noblesville
With over three decades of experience on the force, Brad Arnold was appointed chief of the Noblesville Police Department in October 2025 by Mayor Chris Jensen to succeed retired Chief John Mann.
“I cannot thank Mayor Jensen enough for his leadership and trust in giving me this opportunity to lead these amazing men and women at NPD,” Arnold says.
Chief Arnold was destined to work in public safety. His father spent nearly 40 years as part of the Fortville Fire Department, where he served for many years as the fire chief, and his brother, who followed in their father’s footsteps, has been a firefighter for the Indianapolis Fire Department for over 25 years. Chief Arnold was briefly an engineering major at Purdue University before attending Vincennes University to pursue a degree in criminal justice.
“I was fortunate enough to be hired at Noblesville back in 1993, and I have spent my entire career with this outstanding department! Quite honestly, I never aspired to be a chief when I started, but throughout my career I have been driven to pursue positions and take on responsibilities where I felt I was needed,” Arnold says.
For Chief Arnold and his officers, there is no greater responsibility than to protect and serve Noblesville.
“If you look at one of our patrol vehicles, you will see ‘Protect & Serve.’ That simple phrase means so much to us. We put just as much effort and time into serving our community as we do protecting it,” Arnold says.
In the beginning of 2020, the Noblesville Police Department started to implement guiding principles, and Chief Arnold wants to maintain these principles to continue offering an exceptional level of public safety for the community because it has been so instrumental to the success of their policing.
“Last year, Noblesville was ranked the 12th safest suburb nationally and was ranked 1st in Indiana. We had over 57,600 police interactions with the public in 2025 and made over 1,500 arrests, yet had zero sustained complaints as a result. Our officers are professionals, work hard, keep crime out of Noblesville and do so in a way in which our community engagement has gained true appreciation, respect and support by our residents,” Arnold says.
With Noblesville continuing to grow, the Noblesville Police Department executive staff works in collaboration with Mayor Jensen’s office and city officials to ensure that public safety needs are accurately met when new developments and businesses are planned.
“We have a very supportive mayor and City Council. For 2026, approximately 55% of the city’s operational budget is directed toward public safety. This provides us the necessary funding to maintain effective staffing, training and equipment to continue to bring an unmatched level of service and safety to our community, and we cannot thank them enough for their ongoing support to NPD,” Arnold says.
Chief Arnold also understands that to stay current with the 21st century, he needs to adapt with advancements in technology.
“So many advances in law enforcement technology and software are occurring right now, and implementing responsible public safety tools and projects will greatly enhance our capabilities at NPD,” Arnold says.
These types of initiatives include the Drone First Responder (DFR) and the Real Time Information Center (RTIC) programs.
The Drone First Responder program responds to a 911 dispatch call by having a trained police officer initiate a drone response to the incident location.
“Through the DFR program, we have located missing and wanted persons, located driving complaints, tracked vehicle pursuits, and helped to identify suspects and vehicles involved in crimes which, at times, have led to arrests that may not have happened otherwise,” Arnold says.
The Real Time Information Center (RTIC) is a new program associated with the DFR program that assists officers and crime analysts from the Sheriff’s Department, and the Carmel and Noblesville police departments.
To Chief Arnold, the people he has had the privilege of working alongside have been an important part of his career.
“I have been fortunate to have experienced many things during my career, but what is truly meaningful to me are not the moments, but rather the people I have been blessed to work with over all these years,” Arnold says.
Looking forward to his tenure, Chief Arnold says, “I am excited for the future, and there is much more to come from NPD. For me, there is no better job than being a police officer, and to be able to serve and protect the city where I live is truly special.”
