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The Massachusetts State Police spends nearly $70,000 a month on a sophisticated GPS tracking system designed to enhance accountability and public safety. But 25 Investigates discovered a loophole: hundreds of cruisers are equipped with a “kill switch” that allows the tracking to be disabled.
Investigative Reporter Ted Daniel learned about the feature while reviewing disciplinary records about former State Police detective Michael Proctor, who was fired for conduct revealed in Karen Read’s first murder trial.
Proctor was being investigated for an overtime shift where he and Canton Police detective Kevin Albert stated they traveled to Cape Cod to work a “cold case”. Documents from State Police and Canton Police show the two stopped for beers at Treehouse Brewery in Sandwich before having dinner and more drinks in Hanover on the way home.
The following day, “Albert texted Proctor a picture of two alcoholic drinks with a message ‘It’s bad!!! I was hungover for sure today!!!,’” according to a Canton Police Investigative Report about the incident.
Albert contends the text was a joke.
25 Investigates filed a public records request for Proctor’s GPS records from that day. The data shows Proctor’s unmarked cruiser drove a total of eight seconds and never left his hometown of Canton. The rest of his travels were never recorded because Proctor’s tracking device had been shut off.
The State Police began installing Automated Vehicle Locator (AVL) technology in all vehicles in 2019, costing an initial $225,000. Then-Colonel Christopher Mason touted the system as a key accountability tool following a major overtime fraud scandal in 2018.
A State Police spokesperson states the AVL system was implemented to enhance accountability, operational efficiency, and Trooper safety, empowering supervisors and investigators to cross-reference location data during timesheet reviews and internal audits.
However, a “small number” of vehicles—mostly unmarked cruisers assigned to investigative functions—are also equipped with a second physical device, or “switch,” that allows the operator to temporarily disable the AVL.
As of September 5, 2025, 418 State Police cruisers or about 14% of the department’s roughly 3000 vehicles have these switches installed.
The Department explained that years ago, several District Attorney’s Offices expressed concerns that recording investigators’ locations could endanger the safety of Troopers, subjects, witnesses, and victims in sensitive investigations. The switches were authorized in response to these concerns.
The Department denied a public records request for a list of vehicles where tracking can be shut off, stating the information would be “detrimental to the security and safety of uniformed members.”
They did share the AVL policy with 25 Investigates in this link.
Dennis Galvin, a retired State Police Major and president of the Massachusetts Association for Professional Law Enforcement, (MAPLE), said there are legitimate reasons for going off the radar in limited circumstances.
“You could wind up disclosing information about critical witnesses or even informants and things like that. And those are the things that it would be in the department’s interest to make sure that weren’t available,” Galvin said.
In Proctor’s case, he was never disciplined for turning off his vehicle locator because he was authorized to do so.
An Internal Affairs report from 2021 highlights how the switch can be exploited. The report details an incident where then-Trooper Dwayne Correia had his gun stolen out of his unmarked cruiser following a night of drinking in Providence. Investigators found Correia had intentionally disabled his tracker to “conceal” his whereabouts “from his supervisors.”
The State Police acknowledge that the approach to using the switches “varied in its application across the Department.”
Colonel Geoffrey Noble recently implemented an updated policy. A State Police spokesperson confirmed that the new policy gives supervisors more direct oversight, specifically for “reviewing the small number of requests to temporarily disable the system to protect the personal safety of Troopers, victims and witnesses.”
The updated policy clarifies that the AVL should be operational during normal day-to-day activities and establishes a structured process for members to request permission to disable the system only in “limited, extraordinary circumstances.” This request must detail the mission, expected duration, and specific safety reasons justifying the exemption.
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