Derrick Diggs, Fort Myers police chief, dies while on leave
Remembered as "blunt'" and "no nonsense," Fort Myers Police Chief Derrick Diggs has died.
The cause of death was not immediately disclosed. Diggs, 67, had been on a leave of absence from the police department for the past seven months. The reason for what was apparently a health leave has not been disclosed by the city.
The Fort Myers Police Department announced the death Wednesday morning for the chief who has served Fort Myers since 2016.
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Deputy Police Chief Randall Pepitone, who has led the department during Diggs' absence is expected to continue in the post until the City Council makes a decision on a successor.
The news of Diggs death spread quickly. People such as City Councilman and retired police officer Johnny Streets were upset to hear the news.
"I'm shocked and saddened," said Streets, who served for more 26 years on the city police force. "I would say to his family that he did what we brought him here to do."
Topping the chief's to do list was digging into the Freeh Report, an outside review on police department operations under a prior administration.
Months before Diggs took the Fort Myers post, parts of an independent report on the city police department began to be released. The report was prepared by a group headed by former FBI director Louis Freeh and it pulled no punches.
The report included criticism of the discipline in the ranks , claimed that officers were told to increase citations and tickets for minor infractions to boost FMPD's standing in statistical reviews, extended favorable treatment to some officers and were headed by police officials who played down the city's gang and drug wars.
The difficult days of Chief Diggs
He faced down some of the most difficult times a police chief can experience.
Within days of Diggs start on the job, a mass shooting at the Fort Myers Club Blu claimed the lives of Ste'fan Strawder, 18, and Sean Archilles, 14. More than 100 bullets flew around them as a teen dance ended at the club; 14 were injured.
It took years, but Diggs led the investigation, resulting in the arrests of five people accused in the shooting. One person has been convicted, while the rest await trial.
Two years into his tenure, Fort Myers Police Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller was killed while on duty July 18, 2018. Jobbers-Miller had responded to a call regarding a stolen cell phone when a man took his gun during a chase and shot him. The accused shooter, Wisner Desmaret, was soon arrested and has faced delays in the trial.
Mayor: Police chief advanced department, reduced crime
Mayor Kevin Anderson, who has served as mayor for the past three years after two years as a member of the council is also a former police officer who rose to the rank of major in the department.
"We are very saddened by his loss and send our condolences to his family," Anderson said.
The mayor credits Diggs with moving the city police force toward more professionalism on the job.
“He took the department into 25th century, I feel comfortable saying that,” Anderson said. “In a lot of regards, he set the standard by which other agencies were judged; he did a lot in helping to reduce crime -- one year we rated eighth safest, last year we were the third safest. "
Emerging past devastation of Freeh report
The mayor added that Diggs moved quickly to tackle the Freeh Report's criticism of the department's operations under his predecessors.
“We had guns, murder rates that were entirely too high and too many of them were unsolved,” the mayor said. “He created a cold case unit, and they resolved some of them."
In one of the most publicized, the department announced in the cold case of a Marine slain in 1997. However, Michelle Ashley, 45, was found not guilty in the Fort Myers slaying of Keith Jones, 27, of Daytona Beach.
Jones' death is one of the oldest unsolved cases in the city and the department pledged to continue seeking justice.
Improvements arrived steadily
By June 2018, there were what some city officials consider improvements in the police department. Streets said the chief searched for solutions that could work in Fort Myers.
"The time that he and I did spend together was always serious times -- no nonsense, just 'get the job done'" Streets said. "He did what we wanted him to do when we brought him here, he maneuvered himself through this city, first of all by listening to the people and understanding them.”
Diggs had been chief of the police department in Toledo, Ohio before coming to Fort Myers and applied for the job in Columbus, Ohio, last spring and was among the four finalists for that post.
Diggs was widely considered a no-nonsense police official who had been briefed on what to expect when he took the job in Fort Myers. At his desk, out in the community, and occasionally when setting members of the city council straight on law enforcement issues, the late chief spoke bluntly and plainly.
In a job where publicity is sometimes a hinderance, Diggs even convened a group of reporters working the Fort Myers beat last summer and and answered their questions about crime and police operations.
Diggs earned respect from first responders
Fort Myers Fire Chief Tracy McMillion understood the message set by Diggs from his own public safety perspective.
McMillion singled out Diggs approach is getting information and making decisions based on what he discovered.
“He planted some good seeds, he has taken the police in our city into the future; he was someone I would try to emulate and learn from and grow from,” McMillion said. "His contributions changed the culture, he changed a mindset, he was able to create a legacy that will last long past today.”
“He would take what he could use for data, what he used for technology, the cultural environment and community environment to see how can we make our department better,” McMillion said.
"I think the positive is you have seen in Fort Myers PD is one of the most amazing organizations out there," he said.
Services not released; memorial created
Memorial and funeral arrangements have not been set. Anderson said he expects the funeral will be held on Diggs' native Ohio with a memorial service in the city at a later date.
The department has thanked the public for the outpouring of support and placed Diggs patrol vehicle in front of department headquarters in his remembrance. The display includes a The Ohio State flag spread across the hood and bouquets of flowers. His picture and badge are inside the car.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers Police Chief Derrick Diggs dead at 66.
