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Massachusetts State Police watchdog pushes again for probe of embattled agency

Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald on

Published in News & Features

One day after the jarring mistrial in the Karen Read murder case, a top state law enforcement watchdog is demanding an “indispensable” probe of the State Police to hopefully restore confidence in the embattled agency.

The “stem to stern” examination of the Massachusetts State Police comes after the agency’s “integrity” was rocked by an investigating trooper’s vulgar remarks about Read — comments that enflamed the case.

“A principal concern raised by this criminal trial is the level of competence, integrity and professionalism of the Massachusetts State Police officers involved in the investigation of the death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe,” the Massachusetts Association for Professional Law Enforcement (MAPLE) said in a statement today.

“The performance of some of the Troopers assigned to this investigation, taken with other recent instances of misconduct by the department as a whole, have created doubt and skepticism in the minds of many citizens of the Commonwealth as to the capability of this agency to discharge its vital functions,” MAPLE added.

The agency, with retired State Police brass among its members, is calling on Gov. Maura Healey to fix the broken MSP.

MAPLE is “strongly” urging “state leadership to act on these recommendations and once again calls for an independent ‘stem to stern’ public examination of this agency as an indispensable step in helping to restore public confidence.”

 

It’s clear MAPLE is seeking the state Legislature to act if Healey will not, the statement points to. The MSP did move quickly last night on a rogue trooper.

As the Herald reported, Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the Read murder case, has been relieved of duty effective immediately. He is still collecting a paycheck. He earned $184,397 last year, state Comptroller records state.

Proctor will be transferred from the DA’s detective unit effective Sunday. Proctor is subject to a duty status hearing and will remain employed by the department until that hearing completes, according to agency spokesman Tim McGuirk.

“Although Trooper Proctor is still employed by the Department, the decision to relieve him of duty means that he can no longer work cases or function as a trooper during this time,” McGuirk said.

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