Kissimmee Police Department 'fosters a culture of silence'; grand jury recommended these changes
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - During a press conference on Thursday morning, Florida State Attorney Andrew Bain announced the findings of the Grand Jury following a misconduct investigation and indictment of Kissimmee police officer Andrew Baseggio.
Related Story: Kissimmee police officer accused of excessive force, 10 others under investigation
The investigation came after Baseggio was accused of attacking a man inside his home, while other officers allegedly covered it up in August 2024.
Body camera footage of the incident led to the resignation of Kissimmee Police Chief Betty Holland, with 10 other officers also under investigation.
The body camera footage shows a struggle between Sean Kastner and his father outside their home. Officers then enter the residence, but the video cuts to black. What happened next inside the home prompted Bain’s office to open a use-of-force investigation in April 2023.
One officer on the scene described the incident, saying, "We went hands on him to arrest him, and he’s sweaty. He has no shirt on. We got him pinned against the couch right there. He kept fighting, so I gave him a couple of knee spikes to the face – good ones – split his face open. He got blood everywhere."
The officer added that he used a Taser on Kastner, who was later arrested with visible injuries, including blood on his face and something lodged in his back. The incident triggered an internal investigation into honesty within the department.
On Oct. 21, State Attorney Andrew Bain's Office sent a letter to Kissimmee leadership requesting a formal investigation into allegations of untruthfulness and misconduct by some members of the police department. It also follows an Osceola County grand jury's findings and recommendations.
"The Kissimmee Police Department's Internal Affairs Department lacks the resources, procedures and stability necessary to function effectively", State Attorney Andrew Bain said during the press conference Thursday.
In the letter, Bain's Office said the investigation initially focused on the 2023 use-of-force case involving Officer Andrew Baseggio, who allegedly responded to a disturbance and entered a home without a warrant and violated the department's use-of-force policy to take a man into custody.
Officer Baseggio was indicted on several charges in August 2024 related to that case.
The Grand Jury found that the Kissimmee Police Department fosters a culture of silence when officer misconduct is not only not reported but accepted, according to the news conference Thursday.
Evidence and testimony presented to the Grand Jury showed officers failed to report Basaggio's excessive use of force, which went on for several minutes without intervention from two other officers on scene and the bodyworn camera showed other officers on scene laughing about the incident.
The Grand Jury is calling for a number of things, including:
- The Kissimmee Police Department's Internal Affairs Department, to be restructured and adequately staffed.
- The Kissimmee Police Department updates its policies to define when criminal investigations are warranted, when an officer is being investigated internally and requires confidentiality in internal affairs investigations.
"We obviously know what investigations need to be continued and completed by the sheriff's office, and we'll be in a better position to answer those questions later on", said State Attorney Bain.
The City of Kissimmee announced that they would be responding to this news conference on Thursday at 1 p.m.
We will be streaming their response live on FOX 35.