Agencyname: | Fort Myers Police Department (FMPD) |
Abbreviation: | FMPD |
Subdivtype: | City |
Subdivname: | Fort Myers, Florida |
Headquarters: | 2210 Widman Way Fort Myers, FL 33901 |
Sworntype: | Police Officer |
Chief1position: | Chief |
Stationtype: | Area Command |
Vehicle1type: | Marked and Unmarked Car |
Animal1type: | Dog |
Animal2type: | Horse |
The Fort Myers Police Department is the law enforcement agency responsible for primary law enforcement services in the city of Fort Myers, Florida.
In 2015, officers from the agency arrested former professional football player Nate Allen. Allen was later released and cleared of any charges. An investigation uncovered evidence that Chief Doug Baker had discrepancies in his reports and statements. Baker was fired and an interim chief was appointed.[1]
In June 2016, after a six-month national search, the city manager named Derrick Diggs as the next chief of police.[2] Diggs, who is retired from the Toledo (OH) Police Department[3] was unanimously approved by the city council.[4]
The department acquired a MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle from the U.S. government in 2014. The vehicle, which replaced a surplus V-150, is used by the agency SWAT team.[7]
The FMPD has lost seven officers and two K-9s in the line of duty since 1930.[8] The first officer to fall in the line of duty was Lieutenant Matthew Hisler, who succumbed to a shotgun blast to the leg on January 3 that he had sustained two days prior when attempting to arrest a man making threats and causing a disturbance.[9]
One officer, Detective Mark Bolhouse suffered a fatal heart attack while inside the Greenwood Police Department headquarters in Greenwood, Indiana. Bolhouse had travelled to Greenwood as part of an investigation into stolen property within Fort Myers.[10]
Three officers and one K-9 have been fatally shot by criminals, three officers have been killed when they were struck by vehicles, and one officer and one K-9 fell to illness or a medical emergency.