At a special town meeting Monday night in Canton, Massachusetts, residents voted to audit the police department over a controversial murder investigation.
More than 1,700 people showed up to vote on a topic that has divided the town: The investigation into the death of Boston police officer John O'Keefe and the murder charge against his girlfriend, Karen Read.
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In the end, participants at Monday's meeting voted 903 to 800 in favor of an audit of the Canton Police Department.
In an earlier round of voting, by hand, an audit passed. But that was formally challenged, leading to the second vote.
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A vote of no confidence in the police department was also withdrawn late Monday night.
Canton native Kathleen Howley spearheaded the effort by creating a petition that ended up getting well over 300 signatures to trigger the vote.
"We are really up against something here in Canton and a lot of us don't understand it," said Howley.
O'Keefe's body was found on a January morning in 2022 outside the home of Brian Albert, a fellow officer with the Boston Police Department. The night before, O'Keefe, Read, Albert and others drank at a bar before returning to Albert's home, where Read told police she dropped O'Keefe off.
Prosecutors said Read hit O'Keefe with her SUV and left him to die. She has pleaded not guilty, and her defense attorneys have alleged a large-scale coverup.
The high-profile case has since overshadowed everyday life in Canton. The divide was on full display Monday as residents argued for or against a police audit.
One resident who spoke argued that there are already checks and balances in place within the department. Another countered that an audit would look at officers' compliance, referring to the current protocols as "self-grading."
Town leaders will now be working with petition organizers to create a five-person committee by Feb. 1 that'll be tasked with using up to $200,000 from the town's reserve fund to choose the firm that will conduct the audit.
It should be noted that town leaders said in its history, Canton has never had its community members vote for an independent firm to audit any of its departments.
NBC10 Boston reached out to Canton Police Chief Helena Rafferty about Monday's decision, but has not yet heard back.
