A meeting Thursday in Canton, Massachusetts, became heated as participants discussed how to move forward with an audit of the town's police department.
Residents voted 903 to 800 for the audit at a special town meeting last year as the Karen Read case divided the town.
Since then, the murder trial against Read ended with a hung jury, the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office committed to retry the case, and the Sandra Birchmore case brought even more attention to law enforcement in the town.
Prosecutors accused Read of killing her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, 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.
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.
On Thursday, the five members of the Canton Police Audit Committee sat down to discuss the scope of services to help the town decide on a firm to conduct the audit. Some hot button issues discussed include the duration and price of the audit.
Members of the committee openly and passionately disagreed among themselves several times during the meeting. Some community members also voiced their frustrations.
Committee members say they hope to have the bids in by the end of September, and to have a firm get the audit started by November.
