Canton residents got their chance Saturday to comment on an independent review of that town's police department, and how they handled high-profile cases such as the deaths of John O'Keefe and Sandra Birchmore.

The audit of the Canton Police Department was authorized 18 months ago to examine a police force widely criticized for its investigations into the deaths of O'Keefe, a Boston police officer whose death led to the high-profile Karen Read trial and subsequent retrial, and pregnant 23-year-old resident Sandra Birchmore.

Birchmore's 2021 death was originally ruled a suicide. In 2024, former Stoughton police detective Matthew Farwell was charged with killing Birchmore. Investigators Farwell strangled Birchmore after she told him she was carrying his baby. A federal indictment accused Farewell of having a sexual relationship with Birchmore before she turned 16 years old.

Canton Police Department audit

The audit results were released on Tuesday, finding inadequacies in Canton Police investigations in general, as well as the investigation into O'Keefe's death.

Saturday's meeting at Canton High School gave residents of the community a chance to ask officials some questions about an audit of the city's police department.

"This is an important step to healing divisions in our community and rebuilding trust," one woman said.

An independent company, 5 Stones Intelligence, was retained by the town in November 2024 to conduct the review of "crime scene protocols, professional standards, accountability processes, organizational structure, and other operational aspects."

"If you don't hold people accountable, then how are they ever going to know what to do?" resident Rita Lombardi said. "Look the death of John O'Keefe was tragic and the way that investigation was handled and mishandled is why we're all here."

What did Canton Police Department audit find?

Auditors did find inadequacies in Canton's investigation into O'Keefe's death. But Matt Germanowski, senior director of 5 Stones Intelligence, said there was no evidence to support conspiracies that police attempted to frame Read, as her defense team has alleged.

"There's a lot of reasons that don't involve corruption or gross negligence. Weather, training, equipment, time, experience," Germanowski said. "So what people should take away is that the current police administration embraced the audit, they welcomed the recommendations and they implemented them."

The goal of the meeting was to help Canton Police build trust with the community.

Some of the recommendations that 5 Stones Intelligence made in their 200-page report included increased training and equipping all patrol officers with crime scene kits. Officials from the company told WBZ-TV the department has already started implementing these suggestions.