Massachusetts State Police leader says firing trooper tied to Karen Read case was 'righteous decision'

Flint McColgan, Boston Herald on Aug 6, 2025

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BOSTON — The head of the Massachusetts State Police says firing Michael Proctor was a “righteous decision” — and that he doesn’t expect the former trooper’s appeal to the Civil Service Commission to succeed.

“I’m confident that the civil service process will work itself out and at this point I have no reason to believe that they will see things any differently than we saw them,” MSP Col. Geoffrey Noble told the Herald in an exclusive interview Tuesday.

Noble said “I can’t and I won’t make any opinions yet” on future Civil Service Commission decisions, but added that he respects the process.

“I’m very confident in the fact that we had a process here within the Mass State Police,” he said, “and that through that process, when we ultimately gave the order to separate Trooper Proctor from service, I felt that that was certainly a righteous decision and certainly in the best interest of the Commonwealth and the Mass State Police.”

Noble was hired last September to lead the MSP. He came from the New Jersey State Police, where he had most recently served as deputy superintendent of administration. He said, however, the majority of his career was as a homicide investigator so he understands “the unique pressure sometimes and the unique challenges and the unique exposure that come with homicide investigations.”

“My assessment is that … our detectives that are out there by and large are doing a very good job,” he told the Herald.

“That said, I’m eyes wide open to a culture issue that I have concerns with,” he continued, “as it relates to what we saw with Trooper Proctor.”

The firing

Those concerns came to a head earlier this year when the agency fired Proctor, the lead investigator in the death of Boston police Officer John O’Keefe — a case that led to murder charges against O’Keefe’s girlfriend, Karen Read.

When Proctor took the stand in Read’s first trial, he was forced to read text messages he admitted were “unprofessional and regrettable,” sent to both colleagues and old friends. In them, he referred to Read as a “babe,” a “whack job” — and other names too offensive to print — mocked a medical condition she suffers from, and shared case details with people lacking clearance, telling them “there’ll be some serious charges brought on the girl.”

Proctor also texted his sister that he hopes Read “kills herself.”

Proctor, who earned $184,000 pay in 2023 according to state records, was placed on leave immediately after the first trial ended in mistrial and was fired in March before Read’s second trial. The MSP trial board found him guilty of four specific violations of the agency’s rules of conduct, three of which directly tied to the Read investigation.

The findings concluded that his text messages were both “derogatory, defamatory, disparaging, and/or otherwise inappropriate” and often “provided sensitive and/or confidential information … to non-law enforcement personnel.” They also found that his “unprofessional and inappropriate conduct” brought “himself and the Massachusetts State Police into disrepute.”

The final, unrelated finding was that he drank alcohol while on duty and drove his cruiser afterward.

Proctor’s attorney immediately vowed to appeal the discharge through the Civil Service Commission. The appeal is ongoing, with the next hearing scheduled for later this month.

Proctor’s family also released a statement that they were “truly disappointed with the trial board’s decision” and that “the messages prove one thing, and that Michael is human — not corrupt, not incompetent in his role as a homicide detective, and certainly not unfit to continue to be a Massachusetts State Trooper.”

Likewise, State Police Association of Massachusetts President Brian Williams issued a statement that “the department decided to “sacrifice Trooper Proctor to appease the media.”

Read was ultimately acquitted of murder but jurors did convict her of drunken driving.

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—Herald editor Joe Dwinell contributed to this report.

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