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 by 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 on the agency’s website dated Dec. 18.
Proctor can request a hearing before the commission before it takes further action. The panel will ultimately decide whether to revoke permanently his certification, which would bar him from ever working as a police officer in the state again.
“The respondent’s suspension is effective immediately upon receipt of this Order,” the filing stated. “An individual 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 coworkers.
Lawyers for Read, who had been charged with killing her boyfriend, seized on 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 of killing 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 suit that Read has filed against investigators in her case and witnesses, accusing them of railroading her.
The State Police termination order said Proctor “sent derogatory, defamatory, disparaging, and/or otherwise inappropriate text messages” about Read. In doing so, 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.”
The order also said that in a separate case on July 19, 2022, Proctor “did consume alcohol while on duty and not in the performance of duty.”
“This occurred when Trooper Proctor consumed alcoholic beverages while eating dinner and then proceeded to operate his Department-issued cruiser,” the order said.
During Read’s first trial, Proctor testified that he and Canton police detective Kevin Albert were conducting a cold-case investigation on Cape Cod in July 2022. The two men 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 wince emoji, according to testimony. Albert later texted that he was hungover and would have a couple more drinks that night “to make me feel good.”
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 front lawn. Read’s lawyers had cited Proctor’s ties to the Alberts and other witnesses in arguing that investigators engaged in a cover-up.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.
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