KISSIMMEE, Fla. – A week after personnel changes at the Kissimmee Police Department, a call has been made for the police citizen review board to be reinstated.
“Going forward it is going to take time to restore confidence and trust in the city’s police department – and I think there’s an opportunity to revisit the question of recreating or reinstituting the citizens review board,” Alex Alemi said during Tuesday’s city commission meeting.
On Oct. 31, Orange-Osceola State Attorney Andrew Bain shared details of a grand jury’s finding and recommendations for the Kissimmee Police Department following a use-of-force investigation involving a former officer.
The grand jury found that the department fosters a “culture of silence” where officer misconduct was allegedly not being reported but rather accepted.
Chief Betty Holland, Deputy Chief Camille Alicea and nearly a dozen officers resigned, the city announced, prior to Bain’s news conference.
“It seems like it took another citizen’s oversight in the form of the grand jury to bring some of these issues to light,” said Alemi, a resident of the city.
What is a police citizen review board?
According to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ website, the board is an entity outside of the police department’s internal affairs. This group of citizens may be appointed by the mayor or other senior government official.
“A civilian review board is generally charged with the duty of reviewing complaints and making recommendations as to disciplinary action after the police department has completed its own investigation and made a disciplinary recommendation,” the website states.
What happened to Kissimmee’s board?
In April, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that blocked civilian review boards across the state from investigating officers. It went into effect July 1.
The law instead allows chiefs of police and county sheriffs to establish their own civilian oversight boards to review the policies and procedures of the law enforcement agency and its subdivisions, boards which must be comprised of at least three and up to seven members appointed by the chief or sheriff, one of whom must be a retired law enforcement officer, the text states.
On May 21, Kissimmee commissioners met to discuss disbanding the police citizen review board in order to comply with state law. During the meeting, city commissioners agreed to dissolve the board, considering it was only looking at internal affairs and citizens’ complaints.
“The bill does allow them (the board) to review policies and procedures, but I can’t remember when this committee was created, but there has been no policy or procedure that has been brought to the committee,“ City Attorney Olga Sanchez de Fuentes said during the meeting in May.
The now-former Chief Holland reassured the board that the police department did not need to have a local board monitoring them because it follows the CFA, or state standards.
“It is a check and balance for the police department to have the accreditation manager (...) and we go with the CFA standards of what’s across the law enforcement spectrum,” Holland said in front of the board.
The ordinance repealing the board was passed on its second and final reading on June 4.
Can the board be reinstated?
Yes; according to the law’s text, cities across the state can choose to reinstate and develop a police citizen review board. However, it does not have the power to investigate officers – rather, it can review procedures and policies.
“If you want to go to the route of having a board that oversees or looks at the policies – I think what the (former) chief is saying we already do that with the accreditation board, which is a statewide board of experts,” City Manager Mike Steigerwald said during May’s meeting. “If you were going to do it at the local level, you’re going to have to rewrite the ordinance and restructure that board and put a different group of people on there (...) and what I think the (former) chief is saying is that she doesn’t see the need for it.”
When asked for any potential plans that Kissimmee would reinstate its police citizen review board, a city spokesperson provided the following statement to News 6:
Regarding your inquiry, the Police Citizen Review Board was dissolved as of June 30, 2024, due to recent state legislation that took effect on July 1, which significantly restricts the role of such boards, particularly in reviewing use-of-force complaints.
While the suggestion is noted, the City Commission ultimately decides whether to move forward, considering the new legal parameters and evaluating the best approach for addressing concerns while remaining in compliance with state law.
Alibeth Suarez, Communications Director, City of Kissimmee
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