A former Canton police chief who served in the role during the Karen Read The investigation died on Saturday, they said his obituary.
Ken Berkowitz served as police chief from 2005 to 2022, when he retired, according to the Citizen of Canton. He was a member of the police department for three decades.
Berkowitz’s obituary does not list a cause of death. The short notice encourages donations in his name to Cops For Kids With Cancer.
Services for Berkowitz will be held at Temple Sinai in Sharon at noon Jan. 2, with burial to follow at Sharon Memorial Park.
Berkowitz’s tenure as Canton police chief was marked by two high-profile cases that have since sparked allegations of law enforcement misconduct: the death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe, 46, i Sandra Birchmore23.
Birchmore was found dead in her Canton apartment in February 2021, and her death was initially ruled a suicide.
But federal prosecutors this year charged Matthew Farwell, a former Stoughton police officer, with killing Birchmore, who he is accused of sexually abusing since he was 15. Birchmore told Farwell she was pregnant with his child shortly before she died.
Days after O’Keefe was found cold to the touch outside a Canton home owned at the time by a Boston police officer, authorities arrested his girlfriend, Karen Readand accused her of killing him. Read has claimed he is the victim of a police conspiracy.
Helena Rafferty is currently Chief of Police in Canton.