Canton Police Det. Kevin Albert received three eight-hour unpaid shifts as discipline after an independent investigative report found he drank on the job, conduct deemed “unbecoming an officer,” while working on a cold case.
Police Chief Helena Rafferty shared the report, conducted by Attorney Terence M. Delehanty, and the details of Albert’s discipline, imposed on him earlier this month, on Monday.
Rafferty placed the detective, who earned $176,387.91 in total pay last year, on paid administrative leave the day after embattled Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor testified in the Karen Read murder trial, in June.
Text messages, presented at trial by Read’s defense attorney Alan Jackson, revealed Proctor and Albert were working together on a “cold case,” and the two went out for drinks after an interview into the case on Cape Cod in July 2022.
The text exchange included Albert asking if he had left his badge and gun in Proctor’s cruiser.
Delehanty’s investigation found Albert had left just his badge in the cruiser, which he retrieved the morning after and before he reported to work, which Delehanty indicated was not a violation of department policy.
After the interview in Sandwich, Proctor and Albert stopped at the local Tree House Brewing Company, Delehanty’s report states.
There, Albert allegedly ordered two alcoholic beverages he consumed on site that cost $34. The detective also reportedly purchased four to five four-packs of IPAs.
Proctor and Albert then drove to Flanders Field, a restaurant that has since closed in Hanover, where Albert ordered an appetizer, entree and two alcoholic drinks for $68.71, Delehanty’s report states.
In an internal interview over the summer, “Albert did not recall ordering a beer but stated it was certainly possible. He also stated that he would take full responsibility for ordering one to two beers.”
Per Canton Police policy, “officers shall not posses and/or use alcohol on duty other than in an authorized duty capacity.” In addition, “Officers shall conduct themselves at all times, both on and off duty, in such a manner as to reflect most favorably on the department and its members.”
“The evidence reviewed and examined certainly indicates that Albert ordered and drank two beers at dinner,” Delehanty’s report states. “The violation was improper and reflected unfavorably on Albert, members of the Canton Police Department and the Canton Police Department.”
Albert reportedly “did not request reimbursement from the Town of Canton for the dinner.”
Delehanty found “no evidence suggesting that Albert was under the influence of alcohol to the extent that would violate the Canton Police Department’s rules regarding criminal conduct.”
The investigation also looked into a picture Albert texted Proctor the morning after with the message, “It’s bad!!! I was hungover for sure today!!!”
“Albert clarified that his text message … referred to his overall fatigue from working a 16-hour shift the previous day,” Delehanty’s report states, “consuming drinks at the Treehouse and Flanders Field after the interview, and consuming additional drinks at home.”
Proctor was pulled off duty the day the Read murder trial ended in a mistrial and later suspended without pay.
The Canton Police Department recused itself from the investigation due to the Albert brothers’ connection to the case, but Proctor testified Kevin Albert helped coordinate certain interviews.
