A meeting Thursday in Canton, Massachusetts, became heated as participants discussed how to move forward with an audit of the town's police department amid ongoing backlash over how police handled the investigation into Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe's death and the Sandra Birchmore case.
Canton voters approved the independent audit of the Canton Police Department 903 to 800 in a special election last year as the Karen Read case divided the town.
Thursday night's meeting was supposed to be the gateway to transparency as the five members of the Canton Police Audit Committee sat down to discuss the scope of services needed to help the town decide on a firm to conduct the audit. But some were at odds over whether the duration and price tag of the audit were realistic, and that led to shouting matches.
Several community members voiced their frustrations.
"I'm doing this for them, for this town. You don't care about this town!" one Canton resident yelled.
Even members of the committee had heated exchanges among themselves.
"This is a disruption to the committee," one committee member said.
Another responded, "This is an embarrassment, and you're not safe for this town either."
"He's here to intimidate me," alleged the first committee member.
Emotions ran high to the point that police had to be called to escort at least one community member out. After the meeting, frustration only grew.
“I think this meeting was an absolute clown show and the person in charge should be removed,” said one community member after the meeting.
The chair said, “No, I’m not going to step down.”
Drama is nothing new for the town of Canton.
The murder trial against Read ended with a hung jury over the summer, and the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office committed to retry the case.
Prosecutors accused Read of killing her 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 Sandra Birchmore case has brought even more attention to law enforcement in the town.
Last month, 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.
Despite all the drama at Thursday night's meeting, committee members say they hope to have bids in by the end of September and to have a firm get the audit started by November.
