Agency goes over outcomes with committee – NBC Boston

Days after releasing the outcomes, the skin firm employed to audit the Canton Police Division introduced its findings.

The corporate, 5 Stones Intelligence, was introduced in after residents voted 903-800 to audit the division amid backlash over the way it dealt with the investigation into Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe‘s demise.

The 200-page report was launched Tuesday as jury choice received underway within the retrial towards O’Keefe’s girlfriend, Karen Learn, who’s charged together with his homicide.

Get updates on what’s occurring in Boston to your inbox. Join our Information Headlines e-newsletter.

The Canton Police Audit Committee met Thursday to go over the findings.

“We did not go into this with an agenda,” stated Matt Germanowski, director of 5 Stones Intelligence. “We did not play ‘gotcha’ with the police division.”

The audit — which additionally seemed into the dealing with of the Sandra Birchmore case — value slightly below $200,000.

The Karen Learn retrial received underway with jury choice on Tuesday — 9 months after a hung jury was declared within the final trial. On the identical time, an audit of the Canton Police Division was launched, and it decided investigators made errors on the scene of John O’Keefe’s demise in January 2022.

The corporate discovered there have been errors made the day O’Keefe’s physique was discovered, together with proof assortment. It decided that O’Keefe’s physique ought to have been photographed earlier than it was faraway from the scene, private cellphones mustn’t have been used, and officers ought to have remained on website till a secondary seek for proof came about later within the day.

“We discovered deviations from coverage,” Germanowski stated Thursday. “None of them have been intentional, conspiratorial, or with the intent to govern proof.”

Canton residents shouldn’t be apprehensive in regards to the integrity of the police division, 5 Stones Intelligence stated, however the police division must be higher financed.

“We received to place more cash into it,” stated Bob McCarthy, chair of the Canton Police Audit Committee. “Cash’s at a premium, however it’s a matter of life and demise on a few of these issues.”

Learn the complete Canton police audit beneath:

Prosecutors accused Learn of killing O’Keefe and leaving him to die within the snow in January of 2022. Learn argued she was framed in a wide-ranging coverup, and the actions of legislation enforcement — together with members of the Canton Police Division and the Massachusetts State Police — have been closely scrutinized for the reason that onset of her trial.

The homicide trial towards Learn ended with a hung jury over the summer season, and her second trial received underway Tuesday morning in Norfolk Superior Court docket.

The Birchmore case has introduced much more consideration to legislation enforcement within the city.

Federal prosecutors introduced fees towards Matthew Farwell, a Stoughton police officer, accusing him of killing Birchmore and staging her Canton house to make it seem she had died by suicide. Canton police discovered her physique throughout a wellness verify.

Among the key observations and findings in regards to the O’Keefe case included within the report have been:

• First responding officers ought to have photographed O’Keefe on the location of the place he was discovered earlier than hearth and rescue moved him to the ambulance.
• All interviews of essential witnesses, together with Jennifer McCabe and Kerry Roberts, ought to have been carried out on the Canton Police Division on Jan. 29, 2022, after John O’Keefe was transported to the hospital.
• Consensual recorded witness interviews ought to have been carried out.
• Massachusetts State Police, together with Canton police, ought to have maintained a police presence at 34 Fairview Highway pending the secondary search carried out by state police crime scene models.
• All video footage maintained on Canton police pc methods of Karen Learn’s Lexus SUV whereas it was housed on the Canton Police Division from Jan. 29 by way of Feb. 2, 2022, ought to have been requested and turned over early within the Karen Learn case to guide investigators for any motion as deemed applicable.

“That is antiquated policing,” stated Todd McGhee, a retired Massachusetts state trooper who oversaw coaching on the police academy throughout his time with the company. “The largest factor for any legislation enforcement company is having the coaching and assets obtainable to be knowledgeable company.”

The report additionally detailed a division affected by low morale, because of the withering criticism on social media and from public protests in entrance of the police station. Officers described being harassed on the job and off obligation whereas spending time with their households.

The second homicide trial towards Karen Learn begins with the method of seating a jury.

Investigators stated they interviewed every of the greater than 40 cops on the power.

Whereas talking about morale, one officer stated: “Nobody on this city will care about us till one among us get murdered, even then half the city will in all probability have fun that.”

Key suggestions from the audit included recording witness interviews on the police station, supplying proof assortment baggage and digital cameras in all division autos, offering extra coaching for crime scene protocols and high-level opinions of all demise investigation reviews.

A group assembly has been scheduled for Saturday, from 2-5 p.m. at Canton Excessive Faculty to current the findings and proposals of the audit to the group and permit the general public to ask questions in regards to the report.

Canton Police Chief Helena Rafferty stated she and different city leaders didn’t obtain an advance screening of the audit, so she had not learn the report when reached by telephone on Tuesday morning. Rafferty stated she can be on the group assembly on Saturday.