FMPD Inspector General resigns after ethics complaints to chief’s office

One of the highest-ranking officials in the Fort Myers Police Department quit his job. Now, he’s blaming Chief Diggs and questioning the department’s ethics.

The Fort Myers Police Department Inspector general turned in his resignation which took effect at 5 p.m. on Friday.

In his letter of resignation, the man, Donald Oswald, says Fort Myers Police Chief Derrick Diggs forced him out of his position.

Donald Oswald says he was also retaliated against as a result of an internal affairs investigation. That investigation was sparked by a complaint that Oswald made about a fellow member of the command staff. Chief Diggs basically told Oswald to stop bringing it up.

“I was dismissed by the chief’s office, by him yelling dismissed. I was marginalized to the point that I was never called into another meeting,” Oswald said.

“I participated in the daily command meeting by zoom which every command level officer does but I was never called into a single meeting that had anything to do with the management of the police department,” he said.

He called the department’s actions “blatantly unethical.” But, he didn’t stop there.

Oswald then told Chief Diggs that that was not his only divergence of values. “That case, while illustrative of your tenure as chief, is by no means the sole example of our divergent values,” said Oswald.

Johnny Streets is a Fort Myers City Councilman and a former police officer. He read Oswald’s resignation letter. Now, Streets is calling for an external investigation.”When people talk about integrity and character and not wanting to compromise that…it catches me, it catches my eye…so I would really like to know from an independent standpoint, not someone in the department because apparently there’s already been an internal investigation,” Streets said.

FMPD originally said that they would provide WINK News with a statement on Friday. However, a spokesperson for the department said all questions must go to the City of Fort Myers.

Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson says he reached out to Oswald prior to his resignation. But because he hasn’t seen the report on the Newhouse investigation, he declined to comment further. He does say he was disturbed by what he heard.

Fort Myers City Councilman Liston Bouchette says he’s waiting on a legal review of the situation but supports any action that will get answers. Councilman Streets says he’d waited for all of the facts.