2 years after Freeh Report release, community questions FMPD progress

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Portions of the heavily redacted Freeh Group Report. (Credit: WINK News)
FILE: Portions of the heavily redacted Freeh Group Report. (Credit: WINK News/FILE)

A community remains split two years after the scathing Freeh Report was released outlining alleged corruption within the Fort Myers Police Dept.

“It’s the few bad apples and you just gotta get rid of them,” said Dr. David Thomas, a Florida Gulf Coast University forensics professor.

The report gave recommendations for the FMPD to improve by hiring a public information officer, increasing staff, updating equipment and using outside agencies to investigate officer misconduct — all things they have done.

FMPD said they only have one of 32 recommendations left, far faster than the five years it was expected to take.

“I’m confident that we’re not done and years go by we’ll see what happens,” Mayor Randy Henderson said. “We have a lot of sophistication around this process.”

But, the progress was dampened by a 2013 video uncovered last week. The video shows Captain Jay Rodriguez seeming to engage in a sex act with an employee of a massage parlor during a FMPD prostitution sting.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the video.

Rodriguez was placed on paid administrative leave last week, despite the investigation into the captain going on since at least December. The investigation was opened after a complaint was filed by a former detective.

While some community members had trust in the FMPD, Rodriguez’s suspected actions have diminished that.

“He paid her city funding monies to please himself,” said Crystal Johnson, a Fort Myers community member. “That’s nasty and he was dead wrong.”

Two officers have remained on paid leave since the Freeh Report was published.

“Its what happened when things have been allowed to run amok,” Thomas said.

The FGCU professor said the real key to progress that sticks is community involvement.

“I can give you a report and say we’ve done 90 percent of these things,” Thomas said. “Well, the question is what does the community think you’ve done? That is where you really find out if you’re making substantial change.”

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