Crime
Col. Geoffrey Noble acknowledged the past three years have “challenged” State Police to reflect on their actions and bolster training and accountability.
Speaking out a day after Karen Read’s acquittal on murder and manslaughter charges, the head of the Massachusetts State Police suggested Read’s high-profile case spurred the agency to do some soul-searching.
In a statement Thursday, State Police Col. Geoffrey Noble extended “sincere condolences to the loved ones of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe,” Read’s boyfriend and the man she was accused of killing on a snowy night in Canton three years ago.
Jurors ultimately acquitted Read of her most serious charges, only finding her guilty of drunk driving.
The case put state and local law enforcement under the microscope, particularly in light of the crass texts ex-Trooper Michael Proctor sent friends, family, and coworkers while leading the investigation into O’Keefe’s death.
“The events of the last three years have challenged our Department to thoroughly review our actions and take concrete steps to deliver advanced investigative training, ensure appropriate oversight, and enhance accountability,” Noble said.
Proctor’s texts cast a pall over Read’s two trials after it came to light that the ex-trooper called Read a “wack job c**t” and “retarded,” made vulgar remarks about her appearance and chronic medical condition, and joked about searching for nude photos on her cellphone. The messages gave Read’s defense team ample fodder as they argued investigators were biased against Read from the start.
Proctor, who was not called to testify during Read’s retrial, was suspended without pay, then fired in March after Noble concluded he “created an image that he was biased in his dealings with a homicide suspect and/or brought otherwise himself and the Massachusetts State Police into disrepute.”
Though he’s acknowledged his texts are “regrettable” and may come across as sexist and misogynistic, Proctor has pushed back on the defense team’s allegations of evidence tampering and conspiracy.
“When you have a fellow police officer around my age, two kids of his own, it generates an emotion, and I expressed those emotions in a negative way, which I shouldn’t have,” Proctor told ABC News’s Matt Gutman in a post-verdict special that aired Wednesday night. “I shouldn’t even have been texting my friends anything.”
He told Gutman he was in “complete hysterics” after State Police initially relieved him of duty, and he is now appealing his firing.
Noble has said his decision to terminate Proctor followed a “thorough, fair, and impartial” disciplinary process.
Since taking the agency’s reins, according to State Police, Noble has implemented comprehensive in-service training for State Police investigators on topics ranging from courtroom testimony to social media and personal phone use, case management and reporting, and DNA process.
He also restructured the agency’s Division of Investigative Services to bolster supervision and accountability, State Police said.
“Under my direction as Colonel, the State Police has, and will continue to, improve in these regards,” Noble said. “Our focus remains on delivering excellent police services that reflect the value of professionalism and maintain public trust.”
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