Howie Carr: Canton police going Solo with Karen Read evidence

A Canton Police Department research will leave no stone unturned except for maybe the rock that the pieces of broken taillight are hidden under If you want to hide something real good just stick it in one of the Canton PD s red Solo cups after which they ll stash them all in a brown Stop Shop bag and leave the sack in an unsecured refrigerator at the police station Fill in your own Barney Fife joke here In the present day Barney Fife would be the police chief of Canton He only had one bullet but at least Barney never got drunk and left it in another department s cruiser Just when you think there s no worse realizable law enforcement agency anywhere than the Mass State Police along comes a witness for the Canton PD a retired lieutenant named Paul Gallagher Consider him the CPD s designated fall guy In Gallagher who on a good day has the IQ of a soft-boiled egg made You don t make that kind of money as a cop by rocking the boat You go along to get along There s a great novel called Pop by Jim Thompson about a crooked Texas sheriff who could be Paul Gallagher s spiritual mentor Here s what the fictional sheriff noted about making the big bucks I had it made and it looked like I could go on having it made as long as I minded my own business and didn t arrest no one unless I just couldn t get out of it and they didn t amount to nothing You know like Karen Read That s fiction from This was Paul Gallagher testifying Tuesday in the Karen Read murder trial about how he handled the study of the murder of a Boston police officer at another Boston cop s house at Fairview Defense attorney Alan Jackson was cross-examining Gallagher about his reluctance to do anything Jackson The fact is you didn t seek a search warrant Gallagher Correct Jackson The fact is you never searched the house Gallagher That s correct Jackson The fact is you never searched the basement Gallagher That s correct Jackson The fact is you never searched the garage Gallagher That s correct Excuses Gallagher has got a inadequate For one thing he says the State Police s crack crew of detectives from the Norfolk County district attorney s office handles murder probes in the White Trash Capital of Massachusetts This is the same MSP crew that in ruled the murder of a pregnant -year-old a suicide after claiming they couldn t find text messages between the woman and her boyfriend yet another local cop and good pal of the crooked MSP crew That Stoughton cop who was cleared by the Norfolk County DA s office is now in federal custody awaiting trial on murder charges But there was another reason why Gallagher s Canton sleuths passed on the murder probe You see the death house Fairview was owned by Brian Albert a Boston cop whose brother is Canton PD Det Kevin Fat Albert We should recuse ourselves because our best detective was Kevin Albert Their best detective Kevin Fat Albert was disciplined last year after getting so drunk in a State Police cruiser that he lost his gun and his badge His drinking buddy that day and night was Trooper Michael Proctor who was just fired from the State Police for his disgraceful behavior in this same kangaroo-court trial Gallagher was giving every cop a good leaving alone That s the way you do things in Canton at least if you want to make a year Heck he knew Brian Albert the slimy Boston cop He knew the drunk cop Kevin The Canton selectman who controlled the police budget was Jailbird Chris Albert who did six months for hit-and-run manslaughter himself Who is anybody in Canton to cast the first stone Especially about boozing it up And Gallagher was even pals with another one of the drunk cops in the death house at Fairview that evening a fat slob named Brian Higgins who worked in a manner of speaking for Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms ATF mostly A at least after hours Jackson sought Gallagher about Higgins You consider him a good friend Gallagher Yes I do And good friends don t bother other good friends even if or maybe especially if another cop is dead Jackson You didn t interview Brian Higgins Gallagher I did not no Jackson You wouldn t interview Brian Higgins because he is your personal friend Is that correct Gallagher Correct Again the -a-year peace officer is channeling the fictional sheriff from the novel I perhaps ain t real smart who wants a smart sheriff and I figure it s a lot nicer to turn your back on trouble than it is to look at it I mean what the heck we got enough trouble of our own without butting in on other people s Isn t that the truth But when Gallagher stumbles across a dead body in the snow he won t look the other way He s a law-enforcement professional after all He searches the scene with his trained eye for evidence of a crime He uses the best forensic tools available a leaf blower I wasn t gonna miss anything with a leaf blower Gallagher announced He borrowed the leaf blower from the neighbor across the street another cop In the snow with his trusty leaf blower Gallagher determined a clear cocktail glass But he somehow missed those pieces of red taillight from the death SUV which were uncovered days and weeks later by the aforementioned Michael Proctor now fired from the State Police for gross misconduct Jackson You did not see a single piece of bright red plastic taillight material Gallagher No sir not in that area Jackson As a matter of fact you didn t see pieces of taillight material either clear or bright red Gallagher No Like Barney Fife Paul Gallagher retired with a full pension How Canton is it Follow the Karen Read trial on Howie s radio show at howiecarrshow com Related Articles Karen Read retrial watch live Canton police detected no taillight pieces at scene Karen Read retrial hits Day with the fateful night in question Howie Carr Canton Confidential Quiz the sequel Howie Carr Nefarious a constant refrain in Karen Read retrial Karen Read retrial Day Jen McCabe s text messages and defendant s BAC Retired Lt Paul Gallagher of the Canton Police Department takes the stand during the Karen Read trial at Norfolk Superior Court Matt Stone Boston Herald