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As More Cops Face Criminal Charges, Mayor Reaffirms Support For Police Commissioner

WAMC

After four police officers in Springfield, Massachusetts were recently charged with crimes, the mayor is defending the police commissioner.  

Mayor Domenic Sarno, who appointed John Barbieri as Springfield Police Commissioner four years ago, said he still fully supports Barbieri.

" Commissioner Barbieri has done a tremendous job," Sarno said. "He is a change agent, a very progressive leader."

A spokesperson for the police department pointed out that the four officers were charged as a result of investigations by Springfield police, and no one received “special treatment.”

One of the officers is accused of child rape.

City Councilor Justin Hurst, who is chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee, called for Barbieri to be demoted.

Hurst, who has been critical of Barberi in the past, said the news about the four police officers facing criminal charges has further eroded public confidence in the Springfield Police Department.

The U.S. Justice Department is conducting an investigation into whether members of the police department's narcotics unit regularly committed civil rights violations.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.