FORT MYERS, Fla. — "Chief will never admit to smiling... okay? That is not his thing. He doesn't smile."
You might not have seen the Chief smile often but Officer Yvetta Dominique says his smile did show up, especially when it came to his love for the community and the kids.
"It made him feel very happy to see that the kids were in a place that was safe."
That safe place is The Police Athletic League, also known as PAL, an enrichment program for kids in Fort Myers. This is an effort program and the Chief fully supported it, often coming here to spend time with the staff and students.
"I think one of my favorite memories is seeing him right here... trying to play video games with the kids... losing horribly at that... but he was just happy to be there."
I sat down with Chief Diggs last year. That's when he shared how special this place was to him. Because the mission behind programs offered here, like boxing and many other sports, he told me, was much bigger.
Remembering what Chief Derrick Diggs told me last year, "I love them winning their meets, but that's not the most important thing. We're trying to get them to be champions in life."
The Chief championed his own path as a college quarterback turned police chief in Toledo, Ohio, making history as the first Black man to serve in that position there. His career brought the Dad of 1 to Fort Myers 7 years ago.
Keith White, senior coordinator at PAL remembers that and what the community looked like at the time. White said, "At the time, Fort Myers was in a disarray. It had a lot of negative things going on inside our community." He told me even though Diggs wasn't Chief after the 2016 Fort Myers Club Blu Shooting where 14 kids were shot and 2 killed, "I know right then and there... we had to do things differently."
A list of recommended changes later came through what's called the Freeh Report. But part of that change, he told me, included developing relationships with kids in the community. "He felt that PAL along with policing reaching our youth and giving them something positive to do would help our overall picture of what we do here in Fort Myers."
Both Officer Dominique and Keith White worked closely with Chief Diggs at the center, making Wednesday's news of his death tough. "It was tough. It was like losing a father, a father figure — he always pushed, always"
And that push, White tells me, helped to create a safe, educational safe. A push that means so much to him, who grew up here and spent years advocating for youth. "He came to my hood... and empowered me to do what I do and I appreciate him for that."
