One year after stepping in to lead a department shaken by a misconduct scandal, Kissimmee Police Chief Charles Broadway marked the anniversary at a swearing-in ceremony for new officers and said the agency is rebuilding from the ground up. He sounded cautiously hopeful, while stressing that earning back public trust is going to be a long-haul project, not an overnight fix.
In a sit-down with local reporters, Broadway said his top priorities are “restoring stability, rebuilding trust and strengthening public safety,” and that his early months on the job meant making some hard personnel calls to change the culture, according to WESH. He said disciplinary actions and leadership shake-ups were part of that reset, and pointed to improving officer morale as a sign the department is finally starting to move forward.
What sparked the overhaul
The push for reform traces back to an April 2023 excessive-force case that prompted a grand jury to say the department fostered a “culture of silence,” a finding that set off outside investigations and led to the resignation of former Chief Betty Holland, according to WFTV. The fallout pushed the city to bring in outside reviewers and take a hard look at how internal affairs cases were handled.
Internal shake-up and accountability
An independent review released last summer runs hundreds of pages and triggered a wave of personnel decisions. Broadway said three employees were fired, two were demoted, and three were suspended as the department tried to show it was serious about accountability. He has also added an assistant chief, expanded the internal affairs unit, and made the full report public for anyone to read, according to ClickOrlando.
Staffing gains and recruiting
Staffing is one of the clearest areas of change. Broadway said the department has cut sworn vacancies from about 15 to 16 a year ago to roughly five or six now, with more hires on the way. He credited better morale and officers actively recruiting peers as key reasons for the turnaround, per WESH.
Federal support and local investment
The city has also landed federal help. A $750,000 DOJ COPS grant approved last fall will pay for six sworn positions and support community policing and analytic work. “This grant is an investment in public safety,” City Manager Mike Steigerwald said in a news release outlining how the city plans to pair federal money with local dollars, per the City of Kissimmee.
Legal fallout and next steps
Former officer Andrew Baseggio pleaded guilty in April 2025 to felony battery and related charges tied to the 2023 incident, a case that helped trigger the broader probe. Broadway said any sustained violations that reach criminal thresholds will be sent to the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission and reviewed with the State Attorney, according to ClickOrlando.
Broadway said the past 12 months have helped reset the department’s foundation, but he acknowledged that the real test will be whether new policies and new hires hold up under pressure. Local coverage has tracked the journey from scandal to reform, and the city has moved to re-establish a civilian police oversight board as another layer of scrutiny, according to reporting on how the department enforces reforms after misconduct probe.
