The Kissimmee Police Department (KPD) is amidst a comprehensive internal probe as the State Attorney’s Office embarks on reviews of past internal investigations involving 15 police officers for various misconduct issues, according to reports from
WFTV
. This scrutiny trails an ongoing dilemma that unearthed a pattern of potentially criminal conduct by officers, behavior that happened between 2015 and 2023 across three different police chiefs’ administrations.
These cases surfaced following the situation reported last year when Officer Andrew Bossegio was caught on body cam footage kneeing a man in the face, a punishment for which he received only a single day off work. After the incident, a grand jury indicted Bossegio on six counts, including felony battery. It accused the KPD of fostering a “culture of silence” and cover-ups, detailed in a report by
WFTV
.
The grand jury’s focus extended beyond Bossegio, implicating as many as 26 officers, including the recently reported 15 and the 11 from the preceding use of force controversy. These officers could face criminal charges and might be added to the “Brady’s list,” composed of officers with a history of misconduct allegations. As former officer and criminal defense attorney Jeff Lotter mentioned in an interview with
WDBO
, “That’s not just a slip up. That’s a problem.”
As the investigation deepens, KPD maintains that the audit of their previous internal affairs cases was proactive and conducted before the grand jury’s presentation. The department has pledged a commitment to “transparency and accountability in all our operations,” according to their statement. Adding to the concerns raised by the state attorney’s office and echoed by Lotter is that such misconduct becomes vital evidence, potentially jeopardizing past cases where the accused officers’ testimonies were central. “And if a police officer has questionable conduct in his past regarding other arrests, that information now becomes brady discoverable material because it calls into question that officer’s integrity or at least professionalism,” Lotter stated, as per
WFTV
.
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