The Bay State’s police disciplinary board has responded to one among Karen Learn’s attorneys after he slammed BPD Commissioner Michael Cox and known as for him to be punished.
Cox as the town’s police commish is “not a sworn law enforcement officer” so he’s not going through a disciplinary evaluation from the state board, the POST Fee stated Thursday.
Lawyer Alan Jackson — who turned a family identify throughout Learn’s two homicide trials — final month despatched a scathing letter to Mayor Michelle Wu and the Massachusetts POST Fee about Cox.
Jackson accused Cox of being “caught in a lie” about ex-cop Kelly Dever, a controversial witness within the homicide trial.
Learn’s lawyer known as for Cox to be positioned on the Suffolk DA’s checklist of officers with credibility points — often known as the Brady checklist — and for the state’s Peace Officer Requirements and Coaching Fee to launch a disciplinary investigation into Cox.
Jackson stated the POST Fee ought to evaluation Cox for “dishonesty, lack of candor, and conduct unbecoming an officer.”
On Thursday, the POST Fee’s Govt Director Enrique Zuniga responded to Jackson.
“The City of Boston has informed the Commission that, pursuant to Department policies and governing statutes, the Boston Police Commissioner is a civilian executive, not a sworn law enforcement officer,” Zuniga wrote within the letter to Jackson. “In line with the Metropolis, Commissioner Cox doesn’t personally perform police duties and features.
“Based in part on this information, the Commission thus far has not required non-sworn civilian executives such as Commissioner Cox to obtain law enforcement certification nor has the Commission treated them as being subject to other statutory and regulatory provisions governing sworn law enforcement officers,” the chief director added.
The Fee is re-examining its insurance policies about civilians who’re concerned in overseeing police businesses, Zuniga added.
“The Commission thanks you for informing us of your views on this matter,” he wrote to Jackson. “Your comments have been influential with respect to the Commission’s ongoing refinement of its policies concerning the treatment of civilian authorities.”
Dever, the ex-cop, was working as a patrol officer in Canton when Learn’s Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, died within the early morning of Jan. 29, 2022.
Dever then joined BPD, and he or she testified within the Learn retrial earlier this yr.
Jackson introduced Dever to the stand, questioning her over how she initially instructed federal investigators that she noticed witness Brian Higgins and then-Canton Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz enter the police division storage and spend a “wildly long time” with Learn’s SUV.
This gave credence to the protection’s concept that police tampered with proof, together with the busted taillight, items of which have been later discovered on the crime scene.
Dever stated she later recanted this assertion as a “false memory” after being proven a timeline of occasions that proved that it wasn’t potential.
Following the Learn retrial, Cox instructed reporters that he “didn’t know” that one among his officers was related to the Learn case, contradicting Dever who testified within the retrial that he instructed her to “tell the truth up here.”
Cox additionally stated he had “nothing to do with Karen Read,” denying accusations from the protection that he influenced Dever’s testimony.
Throughout her direct examination, Dever testified that Cox known as her into his workplace and that the commissioner instructed her the division would assist her and to inform the reality.
“As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know this person was associated with the Karen Read case,” Cox instructed reporters this summer season. “You realize, I’ve a corporation stuffed with over 3,000 individuals, and we assist all our people.
“And the reality is that I get information passed on, whether those people are high or low, and I encourage everyone,” the commissioner added. “And if you’re going to work here and you belong here, then we’re going to encourage you. I have no idea what they’re talking about with Karen Read.”
Now, Learn’s lawyer is pointing to proof that allegedly proves “Cox knowingly misrepresented his involvement.”
Again on Feb. 22, 2024, the FBI’s Boston Subject Workplace reportedly despatched Cox an electronic mail that references Dever.
“Just a reminder, the documents were released to the DA’s office late last night. The officer we spoke about is Kelly Dever,” reads the e-mail from FBI Boston Assistant Particular Agent in Cost Stephen Kelleher.
The day after that electronic mail, Cox’s official calendar lists a gathering with Dever, in response to Jackson.
“Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox has been caught in a lie — and not a small one,” Jackson wrote within the letter to Wu and the POST Fee.
Dever just lately resigned from BPD.
Norfolk DA prosecutors accused Learn of backing up into O’Keefe, her boyfriend of two years, together with her SUV, leaving him to freeze and die on the entrance yard of a Canton house the place the pair was alleged to proceed an evening out after the bars closed that chilly, snowy early January morning.
The jury cleared Learn of killing O’Keefe, convicting her of simply drunken driving.
