The Bay State’s police disciplinary board has responded to one of Karen Read’s attorneys after he slammed BPD Commissioner Michael Cox and called for him to be punished.
Cox as the city’s police commish is “not a sworn law enforcement officer” so he’s not facing a disciplinary review from the state board, the POST Commission said Thursday.
Lawyer Alan Jackson — who became a household name during Read’s two murder trials — last month sent a scathing letter to Mayor Michelle Wu and the Massachusetts POST Commission about Cox.
Jackson accused Cox of being “caught in a lie” about ex-cop Kelly Dever, a controversial witness in the murder trial.
Read’s lawyer called for Cox to be placed on the Suffolk DA’s list of officers with credibility issues — known as the Brady list — and for the state’s Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission to launch a disciplinary investigation into Cox.
Jackson said the POST Commission should review Cox for “dishonesty, lack of candor, and conduct unbecoming an officer.”
On Thursday, the POST Commission’s Executive 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 in the letter to Jackson. “According to the City, Commissioner Cox does not personally carry out police duties and functions.
“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 executive director added.
The Commission is re-examining its policies about civilians who are involved in overseeing police agencies, 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 Read’s Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, died in the early morning of Jan. 29, 2022.
Dever then joined BPD, and she testified in the Read retrial earlier this year.
Jackson brought Dever to the stand, questioning her over how she initially told federal investigators that she saw witness Brian Higgins and then-Canton Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz enter the police department garage and spend a “wildly long time” with Read’s SUV.
This gave credence to the defense’s theory that police tampered with evidence, including the busted taillight, pieces of which were later found at the crime scene.
Dever said she later recanted this statement as a “false memory” after being shown a timeline of events that proved that it wasn’t possible.
Following the Read retrial, Cox told reporters that he “didn’t know” that one of his officers was associated with the Read case, contradicting Dever who testified in the retrial that he told her to “tell the truth up here.”
Cox also said he had “nothing to do with Karen Read,” denying accusations from the defense that he influenced Dever’s testimony.
During her direct examination, Dever testified that Cox called her into his office and that the commissioner told her the department would support her and to tell the truth.
“As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know this person was associated with the Karen Read case,” Cox told reporters this summer. “You know, I have an organization full of over 3,000 people, and we support all our folks.
“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, Read’s attorney is pointing to evidence that allegedly proves “Cox knowingly misrepresented his involvement.”
Back on Feb. 22, 2024, the FBI’s Boston Field Office reportedly sent Cox an email 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 email from FBI Boston Assistant Special Agent in Charge Stephen Kelleher.
The day after that email, Cox’s official calendar lists a meeting with Dever, according to Jackson.
“Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox has been caught in a lie — and not a small one,” Jackson wrote in the letter to Wu and the POST Commission.
Dever recently resigned from BPD.
Norfolk DA prosecutors accused Read of backing up into O’Keefe, her boyfriend of two years, with her SUV, leaving him to freeze and die on the front yard of a Canton home where the pair was supposed to continue a night out after the bars closed that cold, snowy early January morning.
The jury cleared Read of killing O’Keefe, convicting her of just drunken driving.
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