FORT MYERS — New crime statistics from the Fort Myers Police Department show, for four years straight, crime has been on the decline in the city.
Overall crime incidents dropped by more than 600 calls for service from 2016 to 2019. Specifically, the department said violent crime has almost been cut in half over that time period. Chief Darrick Diggs gives credit to the department’s community outreach programs for the success. He said the most effective method of preventing crime has been reaching out to kids.
“One of the programs that I always talk about is our youth programs, especially our police athletic league, and how our coaches and our officers volunteer to work with these young men to provide the structure, to provide the discipline so that they can keep them out of the, doing things that they shouldn’t be doing," said Diggs.
The department also credits new technology for helping them track and catch criminals easier, but Chief Diggs said he doesn’t just want to celebrate these numbers, he wants to get to work to beat them next year.
