Gov. Maura Healey said state police made the right call to remove Trooper Michael Proctor from duty after damaging comments surfaced in the Karen Read murder trial and just as the head of the agency said his conduct could prompt “additional scrutiny” on other cases.

Proctor was the lead state police investigator in the Read case assigned to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office when he admitted to “inappropriate” and “regrettable” comments he made in texts. State police relieved him of duty Monday and planned to transfer him out of the office.

At an event Tuesday morning, Massachusetts State Police Colonel John Mawn said the agency will feel some heat after the trial and will need to be “in a continuous cycle of earning, maintaining public trust and legitimacy.”

“We’re going to see additional scrutiny on all of these investigations as a result of what has come about in regards to the most recent trial, and we’re prepared for that,” Mawn told reporters.

Separately, law enforcement watchdog group redoubled its call for a “stem to stern” review of the embattled agency.

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Read was accused of backing into her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, with an SUV and leaving him to die in January 2022 after a booze-filled night out. Defense attorneys denied the accusations and instead argued O’Keefe was killed by a third party.

Jurors deliberating the case were deadlocked Monday and a local judge declared a mistrial, prompting prosecutors to vow to retry Read.

Mawn said after the mistrial was declared, the agency took “immediate action” to relieve Proctor of duty and transfer him out of the district attorney’s office.

At an unrelated event in Lowell Tuesday, Healey said Mawn “made the right decision” to remove Proctor from duty but did not say if he should be fired. She previously condemned the remarks from Proctor that came to light during the jury trial.

“I fully support the decision made by MSP on this,” Healey told reporters. “As you know, it’s under an internal investigation, so that process will have to go forward, but we’ll certainly stay on top of it.”

The decision to relieve Proctor and the mistrial in the Read case come as a law enforcement watchdog group is calling for a “stem to stern” examination of the Massachusetts State Police to help restore public trust in the agency.

“The performance of some of the troopers assigned to this investigation, taken with other recent instances of misconduct by the department as a whole, have created doubt and skepticism in the minds of many citizens of the commonwealth as to the capability of this agency to discharge its vital functions,” the Massachusetts Association for Professional Law Enforcement said in a statement.

Mawn said the state police cannot do its job effectively without public trust.

“We are hyper-focused on being able to do that and conducting ourselves in a way that demonstrates that we can do that, and that we are worthy of trust,” he said. “As we move forward in this organization, we will be mindful of that, and we will be making sure that we’re all doing our very best to show the public that we can be what they need us to be.”

During his time on the witness stand, Proctor admitted to sending texts to friends and co-workers in which he called Read a “babe,” “whack job,” used vulgar language as he referenced her, and made crude remarks about a medical condition. In one exchange, he even said he hoped Read killed herself.

“These regrettable and unprofessional comments are not something I’m proud of and are not something I should have written in private or any other setting,” Proctor said during the trial.

The incident occurred just as a six-person search committee appointed by Healey is looking for the next head of the Massachusetts State Police, who could come from outside the agency for the first time.

Healey said Tuesday she is looking for someone who can bring “professionalism, integrity and competence” to the job.

While he is relieved of duty, Proctor still works for the state police.

He earned $184,397 last year, according to state Comptroller records.

Proctor will be transferred from the DA’s detective unit effective Sunday. He is subject to a duty status hearing and will remain employed by the department until that hearing completes, according to agency spokesman Tim McGuirk.

“Although Trooper Proctor is still employed by the Department, the decision to relieve him of duty means that he can no longer work cases or function as a trooper during this time,” McGuirk said.

An internal affairs investigation into misconduct that emerged during testimony in the Read trial remains ongoing.