Interview Summary – City of Cocoa Beach

Interviews with Police Officers

April 2023

Problem Statement:
City Manager Robin Hayes reported that an employee had approached Ms. Hayes about
possible violations in the Command office. Allegations included hostile work environment,
abusive or bullying behavior, and possible sexual harassment by Chief Rosenfeld.
After interviewing Chief and Chief’s direct staff, it was observed by the interviewers that Chief’s
loud, distracting and unprofessional conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work
environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive.
As a result of these observations, Ms. Hayes requested additional interviews be conducted with
the City of Cocoa Beach Police Officers to determine any additional concerns with Chief’s
behavior or other issues within the department that could be uncovered as a result of further
discussions.
Objective:
Our objective was to continue the review into the complaints against Chief Rosenfeld. We
planned to conduct interviews with sworn officers and key department staff to determine the
extent and validity of the claims, and provide a summary of our observations to Ms. Hayes once
complete.
Approach:
We were asked to interview all current Police Department Officers. We also requested freedom
to interview others that might have relevant information. As such, we interviewed:
Sworn Officers – 14 Officers interviewed.
Other – 2 employees interviewed.
In all, 16 interviews were conducted between April 3, 2023, to April 12, 2023.
We did not include regular touch points with Deputy Chief Mullins or HR to schedule interviews
unless those discussions included additional information relevant to our objective.
To protect employee and Officer anonymity, interviews were conducted in the vacant Cocoa
Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce office in the Parking Garage.
It was stated to all Officers and employees that we were there to look into the culture, values,
and behavior of the organization. As the third round of interviews we were conducting relating
to the various areas of the department, we relayed that their name, rank and gender would be
kept confidential within our report.

Page 1 of 3
 Interview Summary – City of Cocoa Beach
Interviews with Police Officers
April 2023

Interview Notes – Officers:

There were 7 Officers who spoke freely and openly about the environment in the department.
Others refused to share thoughts or concerns, either for fear of losing their job or apparent
allegiance to Chief.
All those who offered input shared stories relating to bullying and toxicity by Chief. Behaviors
referenced previously were corroborated, although discounted as “just his personality” or
“that’s just how he is”. The Officers were not offended or disturbed by it.
1. Officers relayed instances of Inconsistent discipline and accountability for Officers,
including holding out on approving PTO until union involvement “to be vindictive”. Most
confirmed this was “allowed” or “permitted” by Chief.
2. Most Officers confirmed that terms such as “faggot”, “fag”, “sissy”, “homo” and “fat”
were all used when referring to Officers from Chief Rosenfeld.
a. “They are just part of his vocabulary” was the overall response to this.
3. Multiple Officers shared several stories relating to Chief not hiring individuals because
they “didn’t fit the look” and were “fat” and the fact that he is obsessed with personal
appearance.
a. There was an internal candidate who met all the requirements to be the
Administrative Assistant to the Chief. This candidate was not chosen, and it was
widely known by the Officers who all shared a similar theme of comments from
Chief regarding this internal candidate that she didn’t get the job because she
didn’t fit the look.
b. There was an Officer who applied to an open role to come onto the force. They
met the requirements and were already a certified Officer in the State of Florida.
Chief intentionally delayed the hiring of the Officer because “he didn’t look good
in the uniform”.
c. During a vest fitting, Chief told an Officer he should lose his “muffin top” so the
vest would fit better and then laughed. This was in front of other Officers.
4. Chief is inconsistent with communication and messaging. He will frequently change
course day-to-day or hour-to-hour. When Officers are not able to track or keep up, they
will sometimes result in “getting chewed out” by Chief in a public forum.
a. Chief will text and call randomly regarding Facebook posts, then later Officers
will “get chewed out” for things that are required – such as a car in the road,
presence in one of the communities, using their lights on their car at the next
meeting or when they see Chief in the breakroom.
b. During a recent hurricane, no decision was made until the very last minute if the
Officers had to be onsite and away from their families and homes for the
duration of the hurricane. When they had the briefings finally after the decision

Page 2 of 3
 Interview Summary – City of Cocoa Beach
Interviews with Police Officers
April 2023

was made to come in, they were all told by Chief “I own your asses” referring to
their obligations during the Hurricanes and being essential for coverage.
5. Chief will become easily riled up and go from “0 to 100 in a matter of seconds.”
6. Mental health of the Officers isn’t addressed, although several employees said they
advocate for it.
a. EAP is used as a “weapon” a “threat” and a “punishment.”
b. Told by Chief Rosenfeld to “suck it up”
Observations:
Observations from the previous round of interviews were confirmed by these interviews that
Chief’s loud, distracting and unprofessional conduct may be severe or pervasive enough to
create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or
abusive.
While we heard multiple confirmations to support the allegations against Chief, most Officers
that provided comments felt this was not an issue as they were happy with the progress the
Chief has brought to the Department. They feel he truly wants what is best for the Officers, but
sometimes will get heated, loud, and obnoxious.
Additionally, there were multiple complaints against Deputy Chief Mullins and Lieutenant
Hernandez pertaining to similar concerns of bullying and hostility:
▪ Comments from Officers indicate that DC Mullins and Lt. Hernandez may have created a
hostile, intimidating, and abusive environment in the Department.
• The majority of the Officers who shared were keenly aware of who was on the “good
side” of DC Mullins and Lt. Hernandez.
• The Officers have stopped asking for or advocating for change and are “keeping their
heads down” and “praying DC does not take over” as a result of the “investigation” into
Chief Rosenfeld.
• DC Mullins is “campaigning” and trying to “build trust” but feel it is too late. Officers felt
he has already made it clear to them that he is neither fair nor impartial in the
leadership of the department.
• Most stated they would advocate for new leadership over any of the current leadership.
• We recommend exploring this further.

End Summary

Page 3 of 3