The state’s police oversight agency has suspended the certification of former state police investigator Michael Proctor, who was fired for misconduct in the Karen Read case.
The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, or POST, has “concluded, based on a preponderance of the evidence,” that suspending Proctor’s certification to work in law enforcement in the state is “in the best interest of the health, safety, or welfare of the public,” according to an order posted on the agency’s website dated Dec. 18.
Proctor may request a hearing before the commission before taking further action. The panel will ultimately decide whether to permanently revoke his certification, which would prevent him from ever working as a police officer in the state again.
“Defendant’s suspension is effective immediately upon receipt of this order,” the filing states. “A person whose certification is suspended by the Commission is prohibited from performing police duties and functions in Massachusetts. »
State police fired Proctor in March.
He was forced during Read’s first trial last year to read aloud a number of vulgar and misogynistic texts he had sent about her to friends and colleagues.
Lawyers for Read, who had been accused of murdering her boyfriend, used the texts to argue that law enforcement was biased against their client from the start.
Read’s first trial ended in a hung jury, and she was acquitted in June at her retrial for the murder of John O’Keefe, a Boston police officer.
A wrongful death lawsuit filed against Read by O’Keefe’s family remains pending, as does a separate lawsuit Read filed against investigators in her case and witnesses, accusing them of stalking her.
The state police dismissal order says Proctor “sent derogatory, defamatory, derogatory and/or otherwise inappropriate text messages” about Read. In doing so, he “created the image that he was biased in his dealings with a homicide suspect and/or discredited himself and the Massachusetts State Police.”
The order also states that in a separate case, on July 19, 2022, Proctor “actually consumed alcohol while on duty and not in the line of duty.”
“This occurred when Trooper Proctor consumed alcoholic beverages while dining and then began driving his department-issued cruiser,” the order states.
During Read’s first trial, Proctor testified that he and Canton Police Detective Kevin Albert were conducting an unsolved investigation on Cape Cod in July 2022. The two ended their day with “a few beers” and the next day, Proctor discovered Albert’s badge in his vehicle.
Proctor texted Albert, who responded by asking, “Did I take my gun,” adding a grimacing emoji, according to testimony. Albert then texted that he was hungover and would have a few more drinks that evening “to make me feel better.”
Albert is the brother of Brian Albert, the now-retired Boston police officer who owned the Canton home where O’Keefe’s body was found on the lawn. Read’s lawyers had cited Proctor’s ties to the Alberts and other witnesses, arguing that investigators had engaged in a cover-up.
Travis Andersen can be contacted at travis.andersen@globe.com.
