Did the VCSO delay an investigation into ex-VCSO Captain Osowski regarding his son's traffic homicide investigation? Did such a delay hamper both the internal VCSO and traffic homicide investigations? Are there some serious conflicts of interest surrounding these matters?
Updated August 17, 2011
"Life is tough.....it's even tougher if you are stupid." ~Actor, John Wayne
On November 25, 2010 Michael Osowski (son of Volusia County Sheriff Office (VCSO) Captain Alan Osowski) was involved in a traffic accident that killed Peggy Osowski (Alan's mother, Michael's grandmother).
This traffic accident happened in the City of DeBary, which was Captain Osowski's area of responsibility at the time of the traffic accident.
On April 15, 2011 Michael Osowski attended traffic court regarding the citation he received for failing to yield the right a way - VolusiaExposed.Com has some questions and concerns regarding that date's court process (see below web link)
According to some local media accounts, Captain Osowski reported to the crash scene and removed his son from the scene prior to the completion of the evidence gathering portion of the required traffic accident investigation. In the particular, Michael was removed from the scene prior to a blood sample being obtained to determine if he was under the influence of any substances (drugs / alcohol). A blood sample was obtained over 20 hours later, but obviously its value as evidence is now questionable, due to the time delay in securing it. Local records indicate that Michael Osowski has a past DUI arrest history.
Shortly after the incident (November 30, 2010), questions were raised about Captain Osowski's actions on the day of his mother's death. Did he violate any laws by removing his son from the traffic scene prior to the securing of a blood sample? Was Captain Osowski protecting his son (Michael) from another possible DUI arrest?
Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson sought the advice of the State Attorney's office regarding Captain Osowski's actions. When Captain Osowski was advised that the VCSO would be conducting an investigation into his (Osowski) actions surrounding the traffic incident, Captain Osowski advised VCSO senior personnel that he would be retiring.
Initially, senior VCSO staff advised the public that, since Captain Osowski was retiring, no internal affairs investigation into Captain Osowsi's actions would be necessary. Please see the below media article that documents the position of VCSO senior staff (no need to conduct internal investigation).
VolusiaExposed.Com was surprised to learn of VCSO's belief that Captain Osowski's pending retirement negated their (VCSO) responsibilities to conduct an "employing agency" investigation.
In the comment section of a local media outlet's December 8, 2010 article - (see below), VolusiaExposed.Com questioned (in the reader comments section) whether the VCSO had a statutory obligation to conduct an internal agency investigation into Captain Osowski's actions.
On December 10, 2010 at 7:12 AM - a poster by the name of Gary Davidson, PIO (public information officer) made the following post - "In response to volusiaexposed, the Sheriff's Office has not said that it will not be conducting any internal investigation. What we did say is that Captain Osowski's decision to retire negates the need to conduct an internal investigation into his actions. When all is said and done, there may be a need to look at the actions of the other deputies at the scene to determine whether anyone else did anything wrong. The interviews and information developed by the State Attorney's Office during the criminal investigation requested by Sheriff Johnson should shed some light on the actions of the other deputies at the scene and help determine whether an internal investigation is warranted. Hope that clears it up for you."
On December 12, 2010 - VolusiaExposed.Com sent the below email to VCSO Public Information Officer, Gary Davidson in which we expressed our concerns that VCSO had a statutory responsibility to conduct an internal agency investigation into Captain Osowski's actions.
Within the above email, we, VolusiaExposed.Com explained to Mr. Davidison that Florida Statute 943.1395(5) was clear in that the VCSO had a legal obligation to conduct an agency investigation into Captain Osowski's actions.
Florida Statutes 943.1395(5) states --
"The employing agency must conduct an internal investigation if it has cause to suspect that an officer is not in compliance with, or has failed to maintain compliance with, s. 943.13(4) or (7). If an officer is not in compliance with, or has failed to maintain compliance with, s. 943.13(4) or (7), the employing agency must submit the investigative findings and supporting information and documentation to the commission in accordance with rules adopted by the commission. The commission may inspect and copy an employing agency's records to ensure compliance with this subsection."
(EMPHASIS IS ADDED TO THE TERM - "EMPLOYING AGENCY")
Therefore, apparently the police and State Attorney investigations can NOT suffice for or serve as a replacement to the employing agency's 943.1395 investigation. VolusiaExposed.Com has received information that Volusia County has, in the past, possibly deferred to these non-943 investigations in determining whether an officer / deputy committed acts of misconduct. In these cases, it would appear that Volusia County did NOT conduct the mandated 943 investigation. VolusiaExposed intends to further explore these concerns in future articles.
On December 14, 2010 VolusiaExposed.Com received the below email response from VCSO PIO Davidison that verifies our position that VCSO had a responsibility to conduct an internal investigation into Captain Osowski's actions. Mr. Davidson stated that the VCSO was immediately opening an internal investigation on Captain Osowski.
Since then, the VCSO has filed Captain Osowski's separation paperwork (commonly known as a CJSTC 61 form) with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). Captain Osowski's CJSTC 61 indicated that he left VCSO under UNFAVORABLE conditions. Further, FDLE was advised that the completion of both the VCSO internal and State Attorney investigations were pending. VolusiaExposed will attempt to secure both completed investigations when they become available.
Although we were pleased to hear that VCSO was finally complying with the law, we felt that their two week delay in doing so, like the twenty hour delay in collecting Michael Osowski's blood sample had hampered the investigative process.
VolusiaExposed.Com questions whether the possibility existed that Captain Osowski's internal investigation was delayed by design rather than by any incompetence or unintentional error. We find it difficult to understand how the county's number one law enforcement agency is not keenly aware of their responsibilities to conduct this investigation, regardless of Captain Osowski's pending retirement.
Notice that in VCSO PIO Davidison's above December 10, 2010 reader's comment post (December 8th media article) he indicates that when all is said and done that VCSO might have to investigate other deputies for possible misconduct regarding the November 25, 2010 traffic homicide incident. Was the Osowski investigation delayed in order to protect the involvement of other VCSO staff members?
Captain Osowski's immediate supervisor was Major Robert Jones. Major Jones' spouse is one of several Volusia County Assistant Attorneys. If the VCSO is truly attempting to conduct a fair and honest investigation ( remember an investigation they initially did not want to conduct, due to Osowski's retirement) wouldn't they desire to investigate the possible participation by any and ALL other deputies, to include Osowski's supervisor, Major Jones?
Recently (Feb. 4, 2011) VolusiaExposed.Com received the following email from VCSO PIO Davidson in response to our request for public records on the Osowski situation. Please note that this email was carbon copied to Assistant County Attorney Nancye R. Jones (spouse to VCSO Major R. Jones). This is the second time that Attorney Nancye Jones has been included (carbon copied) regarding our interest in records surrounding the Osowski matter (see the below web links). Is it a good investigative technique to allow Attorney Jones to be in the information loop regarding an ON GOING investigation that her spouse COULD be a subject of? Is this a possible conflict of interest? If so, what does this apparent conflict of interest say about the level of intergity that exists in this investigation? Is this investigation nothing more than a "dog and pony show", just so VCSO can say that they did an investigation?
Why is Assistant County Attorney Nancye Jones even involved in the Osowski matter? Further, how deep is her involvement? Obviously, Major Jones has involvement in the Osowski matter, he was the captain's immediate supervisor. However, without an investigation into the matter (something VCSO appears reluctant to do) we will never know if any other VCSO staff members (to include Major Jones) possibly assisted Captain Osowski in any misconduct or illegal activities.
VolusiaExposed.Com has posted other possible conflicts of interest concerns regarding Nancye and Robert Jones. Attorney Jones apparently is very active in VCSO legal matters. VolusiaExposed.Com questions whether Attorney Jones should be legally representing the VCSO involving circumstances whereas her spouse has possible involvement.
Such rationale was the reason why these concerns (Jones conflict of interest situation) were brought to the attention of the Judicial Nominating Commission regarding Attorney Jones' desire for a judicial appointment within the Seventh Judicial Circuit. .
We further have concerns that some jail death investigations might have been improperly influenced. Major Robert Jones is in charge of the VCSO investigators that review these jail deaths, while Attorney Jones' office is in charge of representing the county against any possible civil suits regarding these deaths. We invite you to review the investigation surrounding the 2009 death of Inmate Tracey Veira. Does it appear that some documents were falsified by jail officers and that the VCSO and Medical Examiner investigators failed to properly follow up on these problems?
While we are not alleging any nefarious behaviors by either Nancye or Robert Jones regarding these possible conflict of interest issues, we do believe that even the mere perception of such conflicts of interest should be avoided. That these types of "perceptions" can cause misdirections in these types of investigations.
The Volusia County Sheriff Department is NOT the only Central Florida law enforcement agency that is experiencing allegations of special treatment involving a father / son conflict of interest. Now, apparently, Sanford Police Chief Tooley is insisting that he was blindsided by a video showing the son of a police lieutenant beating a homeless man. However, email records tend to support that maybe the police chief knew about the video shortly after the event.
Are we, the citizens of Central Florida, assumed to be so gullible by our law enforcement officials that we are expected to believe that Chief Tooley was unaware of the video and that the VCSO did not realize its legal responsibilities to open an internal investigation into the Osowski incident? (see below December 14, 2010 email from VCSO Public Information officer Gary Davidson)
VolusiaExposed.Com is left wondering how VCSO and the State Attorney will handle Captain Osowski's departure. Will VCSO follow State law and FDLE regulations and conduct an unbaised investigation? Will the State Attorney properly review the incident? Did other VCSO staff act unprofessionally during this incident? Short of an investigation will the public ever really know? We, as a community, need to recall that Volusia County officials initially assured us that the Volusia County Beach Patrol sex scandal was an isolated incident. A year later, several Beach Patrol law enforcement officers have been arrested or fired. Apparently some of these officers are accused of engaging in underage sex , while some have been accused of tampering with evidence in these Beach Patrol investigations. We invite our readers to review the documents and media accounts on the Beach Patrol Sex Scandal
Since Captain Osowski has apparently been separated under an "UNFAVORABLE" status, will he be eligible to recieve his entire financial separation package from Volusia County? Doesn't Volusia have a policy that staff separated under misconduct can only receive 20% of their accrued sick and vacation pay? Is the delay in starting and completing the Osowski investigation allowing him to fully collect these benefits prior to any investigative finding?
But then again, didn't the Volusia County jail have an officer working for them while being a convicted felon for over 20 years? Wasn't he allowed to quietly retire, receiving his entire separation package from the county?
Further, isn't there a law that would place Captain Osowski's retirement benefits in jeopardy, IF he is convicted of a felony while acting in his official capacity?
Then again, for Captain Osowski (or his son) to receive any criminal investigations or charges, would not these charges have to be filed by VCSO and prosecuted by State Attorney Larizza's office?
Didn't SA Larizza get elected on a platform that consisted of being critical about former SA Tanner's investigations into local law enforcement corruption? So how likely is it that the local State Attorney is going to properly review these matters for criminal prosecution?
Is this just going to be another one of those "incidents" whereas the VCSO appears to blur or simply ignore the facts to ensure that "certain" individuals are protected from accountabilty or prosecution?
Has the VCSO blurred or ignored facts in the past? Early in this article we provided you with a link to the Inmate Tracey Viera in-custody death at the Volusia County Jail. We invite you to review the documents regarding that inmate's death - in the particular pay close attention to VCSO Investigator Campanella's initial report, as compared to his final report. In his initial report, he appears to have concerns that the inmate had been dead longer than the jail officers were indicating, but in his final report he does not address it. Why?
Recently a St. Petersburg officer was charged with sexual contact with a 15 year old girl. The officer resigned after finding out he was under internal investigation - HOWEVER the police department continued their internal affairs investigation - does this make you wonder why VCSO has apparently discontinued their internal investigation in the Captain Osowski matter?
Even here recently within the VCSO - a male deputy had a sexual allegation placed against him by a female arrestee. Before the completion of the investigation, the deputy died. Did that stop the VCSO investigation? No, it did not. So again, why the delay on starting the Captain Osowski investigation? Is this a prime example of what is commonly referred to as the "Thin Blue Line"? We are unsure, we ask you to draw your own conclusions.
Lastly, We invite our readers to review Sheriff Johnson's own video comments about allegations that he drank and then drove.
VolusiaExposed.Com will monitor this OSOWSKI situation. We shall be requesting public records and our readers can expect updates to this page as these records become available.