Fort Myers Police Chief Doug Baker fired in wake of NFL player's wrongful arrest
Fort Myers police Chief Doug Baker has been fired amid a cloud of controversy in the wrongful arrest of an NFL player.
The announcement came Friday morning in a memo to the mayor and Fort Myers City Council from City Manager Billy Mitchell.
“Because it is my judgment as city manager that a change in leadership is necessary to enable the city of Fort Myers Police Department to continue to move forward,” Mitchell wrote, “I am terminating the employment contract of Douglas E. Baker as police chief effective immediately.”
Capt. Dennis Eads will be appointed interim police chief. Mitchell said hiring a new chief will be the new city manager’s responsibility. Mitchell has already announced his retirement effective Sept. 30.
The chief’s termination came 11 days after the council directed Mitchell to get to the bottom of discrepancies found in the internal affairs investigation following the wrongful arrest of Nate Allen.
The 646-page report outlined the missteps taken by Fort Myers police, but also showed different statements between Baker and Capt. Melvin Perry.
Allen, a Cape Coral High graduate and defensive back for the Oakland Raiders, was detained for several hours on Feb. 16 under the wrong law, and a state attorney’s office investigation later cleared Allen of any wrongdoing.
During an interview with investigators weeks later, Baker said he instructed Perry to release Allen at 8:40 p.m. But Perry denied it, saying it was a missed call. Phone records support Perry’s statement.
Matt Sellers, president of the police union, said the report uncovered evidence that Baker had lied, and under Baker’s leadership, several officers have been fired following claims of untruthfulness – some of whom have been given their job back.
“I’m pleased with the city manager’s decision and I’m thankful he took action,” Sellers said. “There were several instances and circumstances but clearly this one situation couldn’t be swept under the rug.”
But Baker contends that he did not lie, and he stands by the statements he made to investigators about what happened that night.
“It’s disappointing,” Baker said, “but the city manager has a duty and he carried it out.”
Baker, 52, joined the department in 1986, and was appointed police chief in 2009. His annual salary was $136,756.
Change in the department
Allen said it was never his goal to get anyone fired, but instead spark change within the department.
“I just wanted the proper actions to be taken to make sure something like that didn’t happen to someone else,” Allen said Friday in a text message. “At the end of the day, a man has lost his job and that is never the type of thing I wanted. Chief Baker and his family are in my prayers.”
A notice of intent to sue the city and its police department was filed March 12 by Allen’s lawyer, Sawyer Smith.
Smith said firing Baker was the right thing to do, but there is still more to be done.
“It’s a situation where we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.
An outside consulting firm needs to come and assist the council with a review of the police department, and correct the problems with modernized policies and procedures, Smith said.
“We have a problem,” he said. “They need to go get help because it can’t be done from the inside.”
But Lee County’s president of the NAACP, James Muwakkil, supports Baker, saying the way Baker handled Allen’s wrongful arrest only proved his leadership.
He said Baker not only committed himself to conducting the investigation and making the results available to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, but he apologized to Allen and punished the officers involved with his wrongful arrest.
“We respect the right of the city manager to make that decision,” Muwakkil said, “but it just comes at a time when a lot of unsolved murders exist in our community.”
A rash of recent shootings have plagued the city:
12-year-old Luxury Vance was shot three times near Fountain Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. She was treated and released from the hospital last week.
Andrew Chisholm, 39, and his 17-year-old nephew Tarvese “Nuk” Johnson, were found with gunshot wounds July 2 on the second floor breezeway of the Thomas Street apartments. Both died on the scene.
A man was sent to the hospital with serious injuries after a shooting last week at the Brittany Apartments on Winkler Avenue. Police haven’t released the victim’s name and the investigation is ongoing.
But the most high-profile shooting came last October when a stray bullet hit 5-year-old Andrew Faust Jr. on 2200 block of Cuba Street. He was rushed to Lee Memorial hospital where he died from his injuries.
Police tracked down Terrance Irons and Thomas D. Edison and charged them with Andrew’s killing, following statements from an eyewitness to the shooting. But that witness later recanted her statements, forcing the state to drop charges.
Police have not charged anyone else for the killing.
All of this points to what Smith and other critics have been talking about – a lack of leadership within the department.
“It’s a lack of understanding of the problems driving the crime,” Smith said of the recent shootings in the city, “and a lack of modern policy and procedure in community policing.”
Connect with this reporter on Twitter @dulaneycd. Sports Enterprise Reporter David Dorsey contributed to this report.
Timeline of Chief Doug Baker’s career with FMPD
May 1986
Baker, a native of Ohio, is hired by the Fort Myers Police Department.
1987
Baker is suspended for allegedly harassing a Fort Myers man for soliciting sex in a park.
March 24, 2008
Fort Myers police chief Hilton Daniels announces his retirement, effective July 30.
July 18, 2008
Fort Myers police officer Andrew Widman is shot and killed. Baker, a major in the police department, oversees the investigation with Daniels in Wyoming on vacation.
July 22, 2008
Baker is named interim police chief.
Dec. 23, 2008
Baker, 45, is sworn in as Fort Myers police chief after a 7-0 vote by the Fort Myers City Council.
Oct. 13, 2014
5-year-old Andrew Faust is shot and killed by a stray bullet as he plays in his Dunbar home.
Oct. 27, 2014
Baker announces the arrests of Terrance Irons and Thomas D. Edison for the Faust killing. “Our hope is this strong message sent out with these major arrests resonate with the community who will come together and make it so evil has nowhere to hide in the city of Fort Myers,” Baker said.
Feb. 16, 2015
NFL player Nate Allen is arrested and detained for 5½ hours after being accused by a 16-year-old girl of masturbating in his vehicle.
March 12, 2015
Allen is cleared of any wrongdoing by the state attorney’s office. His attorney, Sawyer Smith, files a notice of intent to sue the city of Fort Myers and the FMPD for civil rights violations.
May 26, 2015
Irons and Edison are released after witness Cashae Smith, who initially identified the pair as the men who shot into Faust’s home, recants her testimony.
July 21, 2015
The state attorney’s office drops all charges against Irons and Edison.
July 24, 2015
After a five-month internal investigation, Baker announces the suspension of four Fort Myers police officers involved in Allen’s arrest. He also issues a formal apology to Allen for the incident.
Aug. 1, 2015
Fort Myers police union president Matt Sellers calls for Baker’s ouster, claiming the Allen report shows Baker lied about when he ordered Allen to be released.
Aug. 14, 2015
Fort Myers City Manager Billy Mitchell fires Baker.
Information compiled by News-Press reporter Dan DeLuca.
Fort Myers police chiefs over the last 40 years
Doug Baker: 2008-15
Hilton Daniels: 2001-08
Larry Hart: 1995-2001
Donna Hansen: 1991-95
Harold Ford: 1990-91
Jere Spurlin: 1986-90
Morgan House: 1974-86
Information compiled by News-Press reporters Dan DeLuca and Ben Brasch.
Interim Police Chief Dennis Eads
Eads was hired as a police officer in October 1986. He is paid $96,432 a year.