Karen Read And The Thin Blue Line

 

I wrote this a year ago, June 16th. A friend got me hooked into the Karen Read trial where she was charged with second degree murder for hitting her boyfriend, a Massachusetts police officer. She was eventually acquitted and those of us who were on her side sighed with relief. There were just too many unanswered questions to charge her with anything. One thing we did learn is how absolutely corrupt the Canton police department is. I have a feeling it's the norm in most police departments. Read has decided to sue the department for negligence and cultural bias. I told my friend she should probably let that go and move on until I read the texts of a few of the officers. John Proctor was involved in the Read/OKeefe investigation. At the very beginning before the evidence was gathered he told another fellow officer, "The cunt is guilty. End of story." So we knew he was a piece of garbage. He was eventually fired, not because the department was outraged by his behavior, but because he was caught and worse, turned the spotlight on them. The corruption, racism, misogyny runs rampant in the blue line. 

Here are a few of the texts from Proctor and Sean Goode. 

They share their hate of women, people of color, freely and with such cruelty. The way Proctor writes about his then girlfriend is just stunning. I want to say this is just two bad apples in this tight knit club. It's not. When a female officer, Kelly Dever, first claimed she witnessed some unusual activity by another police officer involved in the Read investigation she changed her mind. She actually said it was a false memory. This change occurred after she spoke with the Massachusetts police commissioner, Michael Cox, who told her to, "Do the right thing."

The current district attorney is appalled and claims this isn't who they are. 

Yes it is. It is exactly who they are and always have been.

It should surprise no one the type of person who chooses to become a cop. As always, there's a few who enter to try and make the world safer for the community, but there are more Proctors than the few good ones. In one text Proctor notes how surprised he was that he was allowed to become a cop. He seemingly fit right in. It's who the force want- people who are psychopaths, sociopaths, whose only difference between them and a Jeffrey Dahmer is they get to wear a uniform. 

After all Read has been through, she has decided to stand up to these disturbed individuals. The blue house has got to be cleaned. You can't go after bad guys when you're the leader of the band.