Canton votes to audit police department amid Karen Read investigation
CANTON – Residents in Canton have voted to launch an independent investigation into the town's police department due in part to the case involving Karen Read.
A special Town Meeting article passed Monday night by a 903-800 margin.
A separate motion for a vote of no confidence in the Board of Selectmen and Canton Police Department has been delayed.
The vote comes in part following the 2022 death of Boston police officer John O'Keefe. Read, O'Keefe's girlfriend, is accused of hitting him with her car in Canton and leaving him to die in a snowstorm. She has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Read's lawyers claim she is being framed as part of a coverup.
Last week, Read won an appeal before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The ruling granted Read access to phone records from one of the people her legal team argues is responsible for O'Keefe's death.
A trial in Read's case has been scheduled for March 2024.