The mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts says he endorses the police commissioner’s punishment of a detective whose actions have jeopardized a number of drug cases.
Mayor Domenic Sarno said police Srgt Gregg Bigda was not fired after he threatened to kill and plant drug evidence on two youths who had stolen an unmarked police car, because of the likelihood an arbitrator would later order the city to rehire the cop with back pay.
" I am not happy about it. This is what was recommended," Sarno said in an interview Friday. " It is a most severe suspension of 60 working days without pay and retraining."
The detective’s threats against the teens were recorded in a police interrogation room and are now being used to impeach his credibility in several pending drug cases.
A group of city councilors have complained the detective’s punishment was not severe enough.
Also Friday, Sarno said he as seeking a legal review to determine if any part of the video of Bigda interrogating the teens can be made public in the interest of transparency and public accountability.
The video of the interrogation, which reportedly lasted more than 2 hours, is under seal by court order to protect the identify of the juveniles. But, defense attorneys in cases where Bigda is a potential prosecution witness have referenced the video and quoted from it in open court.
The statement released by Sarno's office: "In our continued efforts to be transparent and accountable to our public, I have requested City Solicitor Ed Pikula, Commissioner John Barbieri, Human Resource Director Bill Mahoney, and District Attorney Anthony Gulluni to review what information and video that can be legally released to the public in order to help them all better understand the 'why and the how' decisions were rendered in the Detective Gregg Bigda case."
