Law, plaques and memorials honor fallen FMPD officer

FORT MYERS, Fla. Tuesday marks nine years since a Fort Myers police officer was killed in the line of duty.

The legacy of Officer Andrew Widman, gunned down in 2008, lives on not only in plaques and memorials around town but in a state law signed in 2011.

The Widman Act allows judges to keep violent offenders without bond if they violate probation.

“It protects our society, our community from a violent offender re-offending and hurting someone else,” Fort Myers Police Lt. Roger Valdivia said.

Widman, who had only been with the department for a year, was responding to a domestic dispute when he was shot and killed by a Naples man out on probation.

Abel Arango, who opened fire on Widman, was shot by other officers as he attempted to flee the scene.

Valdivia uses Widman’s example and legacy to train others on the risks of the job.

“We come to work to go home, we don’t come to work to not go home,” Valdivia said. “I want to make sure everybody goes home.”