An FMPD officer remembers Chief Diggs’ love for local children through the “Police Athletic League”.

FORT MYERS, Florida — “Chief never admits to smiling… understand? It’s none of his business. He doesn’t smile.”

You may not have seen the Chief smile often, but Officer Yvette Dominic says his smile did show up, especially when it came to his love of society and children.

“He was very happy to see that the children were in a safe place.”

That safe place is the Police Athletic League, also known as PAL, a child development program in Fort Myers. It’s a program of effort and the boss has been very supportive, coming here often to spend time with 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 the same time… but he was just happy to be there.”

I dated Chief Diggs last year. It was then that he shared how special this place was for him. Because the mission of the programs offered here, such as boxing and many other sports, he told me, is much broader.

Recalling what Chef Derrick Diggs told me last year, “I love it when they win their competitions, but that’s not the point. We’re trying to make them champions in life.”

Chief championed his own path as a college quarterback-turned-police chief in Toledo, Ohio, and made history as the first black man to hold that position there. His career brought Father 1 to Fort Myers 7 years ago.

Keith White, PAL Senior Coordinator, remembers this and what the community looked like at the time. White said, “Fort Myers was a mess at the time. There were a lot of negative things going on in our community.” He told me, despite the fact that Diggs was not the chief after the 2016 Fort Myers Blu club shooting in which 14 children were shot and two were killed: “I know right then and there … we had to do that something else.”

A list of recommended changes later appeared in the so-called Freeh report. But part of that change, he told me, involved developing relationships with children in the community. “He felt that the PAL, along with protecting our youth and giving them something positive, would help us build an overall picture of what we’re doing here in Fort Myers.”

Both Officer Dominic and Keith White worked closely with Chief Diggs at the center, which made news of his death Wednesday tough. “This was hard. It was like losing a father, a father figure – he always pressed … always … “

And that push, White says, helped create a safe educational safe. A push that means so much to him, who grew up here and spent years protecting the youth. “He came to me … and gave me the opportunity to do what I do, and I appreciate him for that.”