Former Toledo Police Chief Derrick Diggs has died in Florida

TOLEDO, Ohio – Former Toledo Police Chief Derrick Diggs died, according to a statement from the Fort Myers Police Department in Florida.

Diggs was with the Toledo Police Department for 37 years before retiring in 2014. For the past two years, he has served as Toledo’s chief, the first black person to hold the position.

He began serving as the Fort Myers Police Chief in 2016.

The department released a statement on Wednesday:

On behalf of Acting Chief Pepitone and the entire Fort Myers Police Department family, it is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Police Chief Derrick Diggs.

Chief Diggs, a native of Ohio, has spent more than 46 years in law enforcement, devoting his most recent years to the city of Fort Myers and its residents. There are not enough words to describe the commitment to service and dedication that was paramount to him.

What Chief Diggs accomplished during his tenure with the Fort Myers Police Department will forever leave an impression on the policing of this department. Under his leadership, the Fort Myers Police Department has grown to a level of service and respectability.

Our thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of Chief Diggs, both past and present, at this difficult time.

Diggs has been on medical leave since July, according to the Fort Myers News-Press.

Interim Toledo Police Chief Michael Trondle offered his condolences on Twitter.

WTOL 11 interviewed Diggs on his last day in Toledo in 2014.

“I don’t know how it works for everyone else,” he said at the time. “But the bottom line is: this is my city, that’s how I feel. And I feel that this is my police station.

“It’s an honor to be the police chief.”