March 2023
Officer of the Month March, 2023
Detective Osvald Salien
On Tuesday, September 27, 2022, a victim reported that she was being harassed by her ex-boyfriend and explained that, despite obtaining a court-ordered injunction against him, he continued willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly to harass her. The victim explained that she was in constant fear of her ex-boyfriend after she discovered, on at least five occasions, that he placed a tracking device on her car. The ex-boyfriend would use the tracker’s location information to physically stalk her and routinely appeared at her location unannounced. Despite being served with a restraining order, the ex-boyfriend continued to torment and harass the victim by endlessly contacting her through text messages, phone calls, emails, and social media. The constant fear of not knowing her ex-boyfriend’s intentions, or if he would physically confront her, caused substantial emotional distress.
On December 1, 2022, and February 22, 2023, the victim responded to the North Miami Police station to report additional stalking incidents by the subject. Detective Salien, who was assigned to the case for follow-up, realized that the subject was not going to stop. Detective Salien quickly deployed his extensive investigative skills with the intent to break the subject’s cycle of harassment and torment. Detective Salien began a methodical investigation into the subject’s continuous violation of the judge’s court-ordered injunction and aggravated stalking activities. Using his law enforcement experience, Detective Salien obtained several subpoenas from the State Attorney’s Office. He then pieced together a timeline packed with physical evidence obtained from cell phone messages and emails. He also utilized his technical skills in social media to build a rock-solid case against the ex-boyfriend to ensure his escalating criminal activities would stop. He knew once his case was presented, the magnitude of evidence and level of harassment would clearly demonstrate the victim’s emotional distress and fear were well-founded.
After building his solid case, Detective Salien was ready to interview the ex-boyfriend at the North Miami Police Department employing all the investigative and interview skills at his disposal. His efforts paid off, and his case against the ex-boyfriend was overwhelming and irrefutable. His hard work and dedication resulted in the subject being arrested and charged with the crimes of aggravated stalking, installing illegal tracking devices, violation of a court-ordered injunction, and making threatening and harassing phone calls.
Detective Salien displayed Professionalism and Empathy throughout his investigation. His dedication to those victimized helped the victim feel a sense of peace and normalcy, no longer living in constant fear of her surroundings and her safety.