BOSTON (WHDH) - 7NEWS conducted an exclusive poll with the University of New Hampshire, and the results show trust for law enforcement is taking a beating in Massachusetts in the wake of the Karen Read murder case.
The Karen Read case shined a spotlight on disturbing behavior by police officers and state troopers involved in the investigation, most notably former Massachusetts State Police trooper Michael Proctor and former Canton Police Sergeant Sean Goode.
Karen Read, who was tried twice and acquitted for the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, also filed suit against the Massachusetts State Police and the Canton Police Department in June. According to Read’s attorneys, the 87-page complaint is about “…a culture of bias and corruption that they built, tolerated, and hid from the public for years” by both law enforcement agencies.
7NEWS’ poll shows Massachusetts residents who heard about the case have reached their own verdict about whether police concealed evidence during the initial investigation.
Sixty-nine percent of people said police definitely concealed or probably concealed evidence. Just six percent said police definitely did not or probably did not conceal evidence. Twenty-five percent of people asked were undecided.
“That’s a rather damning public perception of what goes on and they believe, the public does believe, this is evidence of a broader problem within the Massachusetts police,” said Dr. Andy Smith, Director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
The poll shows those who watched Read’s trial made a judgement on not just the investigators in the case, but all those who wear the badge in Massachusetts. Asked whether the Read case is evidence of a wider problem with police in the state, 63 percent said yes, 14 percent voted no, and 23 percent were undecided.
“This whole case has been, kind of, a public opinion disaster for policing in general in Massachusetts, because even good policemen out there are going to be tarred by this. And that’s a very unfortunate thing,” Smith said. “It’s really a terrible position to be in for the great majority of police officers that do an excellent job and work very hard in dangerous circumstances. It only takes a few bad apples to kind of taint the whole barrel and I think that’s what this poll is indicating with that case.”
Despite those results, when asked how well state and local police are protecting people in the state, 44 percent said good or very good, 30 percent said fair, and 12 percent said poor or very poor. Thirteen percent of voters were undecided.
When asked about how those same police officers do at holding other officers accountable when misconduct occurs – it’s a very different answer. Twenty percent said good or very good, 30 percent said fair, and 41 percent said poor or very poor. Nineteen percent were undecided.
“Yeah, they do have confidence in law enforcement. They think they’re going to do the right thing. They’re not concerned about calling the police if they have a problem,” Smith said. “The one area that there is a problem, is that they don’t believe police are doing a good job in holding police officers accountable for misconduct. So, that gets back to that whole issue with the Read case. I think that what this is, an indication is that the public wants to see that the police are going to take this seriously and actually clean up their act.”
The poll showed those doubts about police are shared by Republicans, Democrats, men, and women of all ages. The only small group who felt a little differently were those who did not follow the Read case at all.
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