Cocoa Beach police chief accused of sexual harassment, bullying

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Cocoa Beach Police Chief continues to be on paid administrative leave amid an investigation into his actions.

The investigations started in February when four employees came forward to City Manager Robin Hayes accusing the chief of sexual harassment, bullying, and creating a hostile work environment.

According to the report released, employees said Rosenfeld would make inappropriate comments about people’s weight, saying an employee was "out of shape." He is also accused of referring to a female employee with a derogatory word and telling her she was "sexy when you’re mad." Another allegation was that the chief told staff he was "hot on" one of the female employees and that he was "falling in love." 

Two employees told Hayes the chief showed them an image on his phone of a porn star. Several of the employees said the chief had strong opinions about those of the LGBTQ community and explained that he would "not hire a male admin because only a woman should be an admin."

According to the report, the police chief denied most of the claims. He was reportedly cordial and professional and he, "couldn’t understand what was happening, he was just doing his job. He recognizes he can be loud, but that’s just his personality."

In the interview, the chief said his life "is police and Cocoa Beach." He also went on to say "We will always have disgruntled employees trying to take the boss down."

The report states that it couldn’t find support for a claim of sexual harassment, but it did find the chief’s behavior could create a hostile work environment. 

The Cocoa Beach mayor said Rosenfeld is still on leave. The city commission plans on discussing these findings at a future commission meeting.