In a 29-year career, Springfield Police Officer Gregg Bigda has had more than 30 misconduct complaints against him, among them allegations of beating suspects, driving drunk and — in one particularly infamous instance in Palmer — brutalizing two teenagers accused of stealing a cop car.
But nearly all complaints against Bigda have been dismissed after internal investigations, and Springfield Police Department brass have been unable to fire the embattled officer, whom Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno says “there is no place for” on the police force. Citing fears that firing Bigda wouldn’t survive an appeal brought forward by the police union, the department has instead barred Bigda from returning to work.
