KISSIMMEE, Fla. – On June 30, Kissimmee’s Police Civilian Oversight Board was dissolved.
“I think all of us were shocked that day,” said former board member Nina Hill.
She served on the five-member board since her appointment in 2022.
The oversight board was responsible for reviewing complaints, policies, and procedures and providing recommendations.
However, a new law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year significantly restricted police citizen review boards, including banning them from reviewing use-of-force cases.
A city spokesperson cited this legal change as the reason Kissimmee’s board was disbanded.
Months after the disbandment came a period of scrutiny for the Kissimmee Police Department.
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The recent resignations of Chief Betty Holland and Deputy Chief Camille Alicea followed concerns raised by the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office over alleged misconduct by nearly a dozen officers.
Hill emphasized the need for transparency and accountability, especially given recent events.
“Transparency is everything, and you want the trust of your community,” she said.
The potential reinstatement of the Police Citizen Review Board is expected to be a key topic at Tuesday evening’s city council meeting.
Hill plans to attend and raise questions.
“I [want to] know how do they intend to bring it back? And what limitations will be there?” Hill said.
Orlando Rolon, a law enforcement expert and former police chief, supports citizen review boards but believes they must be structured carefully.
“I think it’s part of the need for transparency that many communities are asking for,” Rolon said. “It’s not a board meant to dictate how you police the community. It’s meant to advise you on what you can do to better serve the citizens.”
However, he expressed reservations about granting boards certain powers.
“I agree that they should not have some of the things that were demanded, like subpoena powers and the ability to investigate. On that, I don’t think it’s proper,” Rolon added.
Hill agreed with some of those limitations but said the board lacked opportunities to directly engage with officers.
“The officers are not required to attend the meetings, so therefore we didn’t really get a chance to talk to the officer to see how they felt or to hear or have input from them on how they felt their case might have been handled,” she said.
Under state law, municipalities can reinstate and redesign their police citizen review boards, but these boards would not have investigative authority.
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