A Kissimmee Police Department deputy chief has successfully petitioned for his reinstatement after a higher-up terminated him and another superior upheld that action.
Wilson Munoz, fired in October, and who attended Tuesday City Commission meeting in civilian clothes, filed a Grievance of Termination with City Manager Mike Steigerwald’s office as part of the city procedures. Munoz outlined concerns regarding the handling of the investigation and his rights under the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights (LEOBR).
After review, Steigerwald noted in a response, which the News-Gazette obtained through a public records request, that Munoz’s termination was improper after a second internal investigation into his actions regarding discipline he handed down to a KPD officer embroiled in the excessive force case of now-former Officer Andrew Baseggio, who was found guilty of felony charges of battery and tampering with a witness and was sentenced to nine months in jail on Oct. 13 stemming from the April 2023 case.
Since Munoz’s actions regarding Baseggio’s case had already been subject to an investigation done in 2024 by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Steigerwald noted in his response that any discipline from KPD’s follow-up investigation would have to be voided per the LEOBR.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office was acting as KPD’s Internal Affairs Unit for purposes of investigating KPD’s handling of excessive use-of-force cases while 10 KPD employees were named by an investigating grand jury.
Steigerwald noted OCSO reviewed his supervisory role, decision-making, and the appropriateness of the discipline issued, coming to the conclusion, “That your judgment was questionable but did not constitute misconduct or a policy violation.” After that investigation closed, the KPD internal one opened. And, among its conclusions, KPD’s investigation, part of an enhanced new internal affairs department Broadway put in place to enhance transparency after replacing former KPD Chief Betty Holland following her resigntation, found that while Munoz had the authority to amend Baseggio’s punishment, he failed to do so, and having been a Captain for over four years, “Should have known the inappropriateness of the discipline he was administering … (Munoz) failed to perform his duties as directed by Departmental policy, and take proper action when he accepted the charge of a ‘policy violation’ when there was a clear ‘excessive force’ issue present.”
Following that additional investigation, McGinley terminated Munoz’s employment on Oct. 14. Munoz filed a written grievance to Chief Charles Broadway, who later upheld the decision. Munoz then turned to city staff.
On Dec. 10, Steigerwald wrote that the city’s findings were that the LEOBR, “Only permits discipline to be imposed during a subsequent review when new allegations or new evidence exist that were not reasonably available during the original investigation. In this case, no such new information was identified … IA25-030 cannot constitute a new or independent matter under LEOBR, and cannot serve as the basis for disciplinary action. For this reason, the second investigation is considered void.”
By the following morning, Broadway noted to the department that Munoz would be returning.
