An internal affairs investigation found a police sergeant in Medford, Massachusetts, repeatedly misused a family member’s disability placard to park in a handicap space during her shifts.
The probe, which was launched in the wake of an NBC10 Boston investigation, also determined Barbara Decristofaro was not truthful about her use of the parking privilege.
In April, NBC10 Boston gathered undercover surveillance video of Decristofaro parking in an accessible space right in front of the Medford Police Department.
Two law enforcement sources confirmed the disability placard hanging on the rearview mirror belonged to the officer’s 88-year-old mother. Misuse of a disability placard in Massachusetts is a violation that comes with a stiff fine and an automatic license suspension.
NBC10 Boston
NBC10 Boston The image on the left shows the placard in Decristofaro’s vehicle; she is seen leaving the police department on the right.
According to the internal affairs report, Medford police noticed an NBC10 Boston photographer walking around Decristofaro’s vehicle on April 30 in the parking lot to gather closer video of the placard.
Police Chief Jack Buckley placed Decristofaro on administrative leave, launched the internal investigation, and seized the placard.
According to the internal affairs report, surveillance video captured Decristofaro starting or ending multiple shifts in March and April in the handicap spot, even moving the placard among different vehicles she drove to work. Investigators described the sergeant’s actions as a “pattern of misconduct … not an isolated lapse.”
In her written report submitted to internal investigators, Decristofaro said she never “intentionally used my mother’s placard” to park at to the police station.
“Any display of a placard was accidental, unintentional, or incidental to the vehicle I was using at the time,” Decristofaro wrote.
Sgt. Barbara Decristofaro is on administrative leave after the NBC10 Boston Investigators received a tip that she was using a family member’s disability placard to park in an accessible space at the police station.
However, during an in-person interview, the investigators said the sergeant’s answers changed and revealed she had not been forthcoming in her written report.
Todd McGhee, a retired Massachusetts state trooper, reviewed the internal affairs report and said Decristofaro dug herself a much deeper hole by not coming clean.
“Own it. Fall on your sword. Hope for the best,” McGhee said. “You can’t recover from that. It’s impossible to recover from that once you haven’t been truthful.”
Medford Police Department
Medford Police Department
In fact, the internal affairs report found Buckley had asked Decristofaro about the placard in February, an exchange captured by the surveillance cameras. According to the report, the sergeant had told her boss the placard belonged to a family member who works as a dispatcher at the station and sometimes hitches a ride with her to work.
“While the misconduct related to placard misuse is serious on its own, the failure to be truthful during the investigation erodes internal trust, exposes the department to liability, and compromises her credibility as a police supervisor,” the report concluded.
Paul Covino, Medford’s new police chief, accepted the report in July, referring it to Mayor Brianna Lungo-Koehn for a disciplinary decision, while citing a personal conflict with the situation.
Civil service records show Covino’s son was in the running for the next promotion to lieutenant alongside Decristofaro.
While awaiting the mayor’s disciplinary decision, records show Decristofaro chose to file for retirement after more than three decades with the force in Medford. The veteran officer declined an NBC10 Boston interview request about her use of the disability placard.
After the NBC10 Boston Investigators raised questions about a police sergeant using a family member’s placard to park in an accessible space at the station, the mayor said she was “appalled.”
In the wake of our investigation, Lungo-Koehn said she was “appalled” by the sergeant’s actions. Through a spokesperson, the mayor did not offer further comment about internal affairs report.
Covino also declined to comment about the conclusions in the report, which sustained allegations of untruthfulness and conduct unbecoming of an officer.
Disability advocates we previously spoke with had wondered how the pattern continued for so long right in front of the police station until NBC10 Boston started asking questions.
The report determined that superiors should have taken more steps to verify whether or not there was potential misconduct instead of taking Decristofaro at her word.
It handpicked the department develop a code of conduct that specifically addresses “ethical leadership expectations, accountability, and the duty to intervene or report when witnessing misconduct among subordinates or peers.”
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