Formal Complaint Against The Punta Gorda Police,AGAINST Intern Chief Jason Ciaschini

Formal Complaint Against The Punta Gorda Police Department.

To the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation,

I am waging a formal complaint with your office against the Punta Gorda Police Department, specifically former Intern Chief Jason Ciaschini. This is my second complaint of the same accreditation standard violation.

As you may or may not be aware, the City of Punta Gorda paid former Officer Bonnie Sills Buckelew more than $100,000.00 after she filed an EEOC complaint for gender discrimination (a civil rights violation) when then Intern Chief Jason Ciaschini changed the promotional process to eliminate females from gaining promotion.

Regardless if the complaint was valid or not, it was served to the police department and resolved with a mass settlement of tax-payer money. The Punta Gorda Police Department is required to follow accreditation standard 20.01 for all complaints (see below). Jason Ciaschini was the subject of the complaint and as the Intern Chief of Police independently decided to not have the complaint investigated at all.

CHAPTER 20 Misconduct Complaint Processing
Every law enforcement agency will establish a system for the receipt, investigation, and determination of complaints received by the agency from any person. The level of the investigation is determined by the agency based on the seriousness of the complaint.


Every law enforcement agency will establish a system for the receipt, investigation, and determination of complaints received by the agency from any person.

20.01M A written directive establishes procedures for processing all complaints against the agency or its members, to include:
I. Bullets
A. Types of complaints to be investigated by line supervisors;
B. Types of complaints to be reviewed by the internal affairs function;
C. Types of complaints that require investigating by the internal affairs function;
D. Procedures for maintaining a record of complaints received by the agency in accordance with Florida Statutes;
E. Maintaining the confidentiality of internal affairs investigations in accordance with Florida Statutes;
F. Secure storage of internal affairs records; and
G. Provisions for releasing information at the conclusion of the investigation, upon request, and in conformance with the public records law.

There was no investigation, review or document whatsoever. Intern Chief Ciaschini avoided conducting any investigation because he is the subject of the complaint. There was no file created, investigation completed, etc.

This is the second such violation of the same accreditation standard violated by Jason Ciaschini and the Punta Gorda Police Department. I filed the first complaint on December 21, 2017.