7 Kissimmee officers criminally investigated in past year
In the past year, Kissimmee police officers have been accused of ramming a car in a strip club parking lot and forgetting a police dog in a sweltering patrol vehicle for long enough that it died.
Another officer slammed a 13-year-old to the ground and wrote in his report the middle school student "became belligerent and aggressive"— though video and an investigation disproved that.
From April 2015 through April 2016, seven officers out of a force of 131 have been the subjects of criminal investigations. Prosecutors filed charges against two officers and investigations of four officers are ongoing. The most recent allegations over false testimony came last month, prompting the suspension of a unit devoted entirely to low-level street crimes.
Police Chief Lee Massie and Mayor Jim Swan say the incidents are isolated events and not related, some occurring on duty and others off the clock dating back to 2014. Experts agree that the numbers do not necessarily point to widespread problems with employee conduct at KPD. In fact, Massie's swift decisions on investigating the allegations — in two instances he asked an outside agency to intervene — shows he will hold his officers accountable.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-kissimmee-police-officers-criminal-investigations-20160407-story.html
