Despite scathing report, crime victim says have faith in FMPD

FORT MYERS, Fla. Taunya Cola still has faith in the Fort Myers Police Department – even with her nephew’s unsolved killing and a scathing report questioning the agency’s ability to solve homicides.

“I don’t want the people to just strictly write off these officers or write off the police department, because there is still good there,” said Cola, whose 24-year-old nephew was murdered three years ago.

Cola was among dozens expected at a Thursday evening vigil at Dunbar Community School for 19 people who were violently killed in the city last year.

The vigil comes one day after an audit detailed deep-seated issues within the police department, including cronyism, “lack of effective leadership,” corruption and limited resources that have damaged the agency’s reputation and hindered its ability to solve crimes.

“The interviewees described a culture of failure and defeatism and believed that key stakeholders have often resorted to blaming external forces, like the State Attorney’s Office and the minority community, rather than looking critically within the department in an honest effort to identify solutions,” the report said.

More than 200 current and former department employees were interviewed for the audit, which was done at the request of city manager Saeed Kazemi and completed by Freeh Group International Solutions Inc.

Lack of experience, leadership

Much of the department’s troubles began in 2009, when a buyout eliminated many experienced officers and supervisors, forcing the agency to promote officers “to detectives and supervisors without adequate experience or the necessary training,” the audit said.

“Many supervisors did not have significant experience conducting complex investigations, such as homicides or internal affairs investigations,” the report said. “As a result, there was a lack of understanding by these supervisors concerning complex, criminal investigations.”

Supervisors focused manpower on low-level crimes and issuing citations, which helped boost the department’s crime enforcement numbers, the report said.

“However, the most violent offenders were often not prosecuted and their crimes remain unsolved,” said the report, which can be read here.

Instead of allocating appropriate resources to shootings and killings, “officers were directed to deal with the general public in a heavy-handed manner,” the report said, adding that such spawned complaints “and appears to have exacerbated tension and distrust within the communities in which these actions took place.”

Prosecuting crimes

Inconsistent procedures for developing effective cases “contributed significantly to a number of cases not being prosecuted,” said the report, which added that prosecutors “had different preferences regarding the manner in which investigations were presented, which contributed to a lack of uniform procedures.”

A WINK News analysis of court data found that while violent crime made up 7 percent of all FMPD arrests in 2016 (4 percent for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and 5 percent for Cape Coral police), 45 percent of Fort Myers violent crime arrests were not prosecuted (35 percent for Cape Coral police and 45 percent for LCSO).

Here’s a list of the most common violent arrests in Fort Myers:

• Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill (57)
• Aggravated battery offender knew/should have known victim was pregnant (23)
• Weapon offense – Missile into dwelling, vehicle, building or aircraft (21)
• Aggravated battery person uses a deadly weapon (19)
• Battery on officer, firefighter, EMT, etc. (16)
• Vehicle theft – Grand theft of motor vehicle (16)
• Second-degree murder dangerous depraved without premeditation (14)
• Robbery with weapon (11)
• Robbery no firearm or weapon (10)
• Battery – Commit felony battery

Overall, 316 out of Fort Myers’ 5,076 total arrests in 2016 were for violent crimes, according to court data. WINK News investigative reporter Lauren Sweeney dives deeper into the numbers: