Michael Proctor kept on ‘full duty’ months after state police learned of profane texts

In a bid to regain his job, former Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor is appealing his termination, and his filing with the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission claims he was treated unfairly and that the State Police acted inconsistently in his case.

25 Investigates obtained Proctor’s file with the Commission through a public records request.

According to a pre-hearing memorandum from his lawyer, Daniel J. Moynihan, Proctor stated that the Massachusetts State Police continued to assign him new cases and kept him on “full duty” for nearly five months after he first revealed his profane text messages to his superiors.

Moynihan wrote, “after he disclosed the content of the text messages in early February 2024, he was allowed to continue on full duty for an extended period, suggesting his conduct was not initially deemed a cause for immediate suspension.”

Proctor states he was first confronted with the messages at a federal grand jury on February 1, 2024, and immediately disclosed their existence and content to his bosses.

Proctor met with 2 State Police lawyers and a Major the following week where he, “disclosed the existence and content of the text messages that were in the possession of the U.S. Attorney,” according to Moynihan.

It was not until the text messages became public in June 2024, during the Karen Read murder trial that Proctor was suspended and eventually fired.

The appeal further states that an initial investigation conducted by two State Police captains with the Office of Professional Integrity and Accountability determined “there was no evidence of bias on his part” in the Read case. This stands in contrast to the reason for his eventual firing, which was partially for creating a “perception of bias” with his messages.

Proctor’s legal team also contends that the trooper had a constitutional right to privacy on his personal cell phone, as there is no State Police policy governing the use of personal devices by troopers.

“Any and all private text messages attributed to the Appellant were sent on a personal cell phone, on which he had an expectation of a constitutional right of privacy,” Attorney Moynihan wrote.

The disciplinary action taken against Proctor is described in the appeal as “disparate” and greatly exceeding the punishment given to other members of the department for similar first-time offenses.

Proctor is scheduled to have a series of hearings before the Civil Service Commission beginning next week.

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