AUBURN -- Auburn’s Chief of Police Gary Giannotta and Deputy Police Chief Thomas Murphy both announced their retirement Monday afternoon.
The announcement comes after $400,000 was cut from the budget.
Giannotta said in a release that he has been employed by the City of Auburn for 31 years and has been Auburn’s Police Chief for the past 16 years.
In the release, Giannotta wrote in part: "With the imminent passage of the upcoming budget, I find that I cannot support the changes that the City Council is proposing to put into place. It is my belief that they are detrimental to the safety and operation of the not only the Police department but the Citizens of Auburn."
In an interview with CNYCentral's Matt Mulcahy the police chief said, ""These cuts will be detrimental to the department. Public Safety is jeopardized with these cuts." Giannotta had been planning to retire in a couple of years, but he said these cuts sped up his decision to step down. "That was the candle on the cake," said the chief.
Murphy said in a release that he has been employed by the City of Auburn for 38 years and has worked as a patrolman, detective, Captain of Detectives and Deputy Police Chief.
In the release, Murphy wrote in part: "I am proud of 85 years of service that my family has given to the City if Auburn. It has been a privilege to have served the citizens of this community for the past thirty eight years and I retire with no regrets and a thank you to all."
The Auburn Police Department was the subject of a CNY Central investigation back in February when a sergeant's police car was hit by a pickup truck that slid on ice. The official accident report did not include the fact the sergeant’s teenage daughter and a friend were in the car when it was hit.
That is a violation of city policy. The accident report was later corrected and the sergeant was disciplined. The Chief insisted there was no cover-up, and blamed it on poor communication between officers.
