Canton police audit released: Full 200-page report, analysis and reaction

An independent audit of the Canton Police Department commissioned amid the backlash over how it handled the investigation into Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe's death and the Sandra Birchmore case was released Tuesday.

The audit began last year and was conducted by the investigative firm 5 Stones Intelligence at a cost of just under $200,000.

Read the full Canton police audit below:

Prosecutors accused Karen Read of killing O'Keefe, her boyfriend, and leaving him to die in the snow in January of 2022. Read argued she was framed in a wide-ranging coverup, and the actions of law enforcement — including members of the Canton Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police — have been heavily scrutinized since the onset of her trial.

The murder trial against Read ended with a hung jury over the summer, and her second trial got underway Tuesday morning in Norfolk Superior Court.

The Birchmore case has brought even more attention to law enforcement in the town.

Federal prosecutors brought charges against Matthew Farwell, a Stoughton police officer, accusing him of killing Birchmore and staging her Canton apartment to make it appear she had died by suicide. Canton police found her body during a wellness check.

Some of the key observations and findings about the O'Keefe case included in the report were:

• First responding officers should have photographed O'Keefe at the location of where he was found before fire and rescue moved him to the ambulance.
• All interviews of critical witnesses, including Jennifer McCabe and Kerry Roberts, should have been conducted at the Canton Police Department on Jan. 29, 2022, after John O'Keefe was transported to the hospital.
• Consensual recorded witness interviews should have been conducted.
• Massachusetts State Police, along with Canton police, should have maintained a police presence at 34 Fairview Road pending the secondary search conducted by state police crime scene units.
• All video footage maintained on Canton police computer systems of Karen Read's Lexus SUV while it was housed at the Canton Police Department from Jan. 29 through Feb. 2, 2022, should have been requested and turned over early in the Karen Read case to lead investigators for any action as deemed appropriate.

"That's antiquated policing," said Todd McGhee, a retired Massachusetts state trooper who oversaw training at the police academy during his time with the agency. "The biggest thing for any law enforcement agency is having the training and resources available to be a professional agency."

The report also detailed a department suffering from low morale, thanks to the withering criticism on social media and from public protests in front of the police station. Officers described being harassed on the job and off duty while spending time with their families.

Investigators said they interviewed each of the more than 40 police officers on the force.

While speaking about morale, one officer said: "No one in this town will care about us until one of us get murdered, even then half the town will probably celebrate that."

Key recommendations from the audit included recording witness interviews at the police station, supplying evidence collection bags and digital cameras in all department vehicles, providing more training for crime scene protocols and high-level reviews of all death investigation reports.

A community meeting has been scheduled for Saturday, from 2-5 p.m. at Canton High School to present the findings and recommendations of the audit to the community and allow the public to ask questions about the report.

Canton Police Chief Helena Rafferty said she and other town leaders did not receive an advance screening of the audit, so she had not read the report when reached by phone on Tuesday morning. Rafferty said she would be at the community meeting on Saturday.

Canton's Police Audit Committee will also hear an executive summary of the audit at a meeting on Thursday, Chair Robert McCarthy said.

"Town officials and the Police Audit Committee are now carefully reviewing the findings to assess any necessary next steps. The committee is committed to working with all stakeholders, including the police department, town leadership, and residents, to ensure that any recommendations are thoughtfully considered and appropriately implemented," McCarthy said in a statement.

David Clough, who served on the audit committee, said he hoped town leaders would take the recommendations seriously and allocate appropriate financial resources.

"This provides a road map for the police department," Clough said.