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Canton Releases Report Showing Ex-Sergeant Sent Racist, Sexist and Other Hateful Texts

The town forwarded the independent findings to the state POST Commission to seek decertification and to enable review of cases and policing practices

Overview

  • An independent 17-page report released Monday, June 29, found sufficient credible evidence that former Canton Sgt. Sean Goode violated multiple department policies through hostile and discriminatory messages.
  • The report, prepared by retired Chief Michael Myers, includes roughly nine pages of Goode’s texts that show racist, antisemitic, homophobic, ableist and misogynist language and dates back more than a decade.
  • Investigators concluded Goode shared sensitive law-enforcement information in group chats, including a Registry of Motor Vehicles photo, ran license-plate queries on acquaintances, and described conduct the investigator called unbecoming an officer.
  • Goode resigned after refusing to cooperate with Canton’s independent probe and had been placed on leave in late October 2025; the town says its only remaining step is to forward the report to the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission for action.
  • The messages were used as exhibits in a civil lawsuit by Karen Read and were gathered from over 200,000 texts reviewed by attorneys, a process that could prompt further reviews of prosecutions and broader oversight of local policing practices.