15 hours ago
Fort Myers Police budget: Request up 3.9 percent or increase to $61.8 million
The Fort Myers Police Department budget for 2025-26 is proposed to grow by just under 3.9% next year, increasing from about $59.5 million to $61.8 million.
The budget that Chief Jason Field submitted May 13 calls for equipment purchases totaling more than $2 million of the approximately $2.3 million increase.
Interestingly the proposal calls for no new personnel. That could signal a starting point for discussion with City Council. At a recent meeting at least two council members expressed support for increased traffic enforcement.
According to the request the current traffic unit is comprised of seven people. A sergeant, four traffic homicide investigators and only two traffic enforcement officers.
Chief Fields said in May that virtually every one of his 263 sworn officers does traffic enforcement as necessary.
The traffic unit is in charge of impaired driving enforcement, training for new officers, follow-up investigation of patrol-initiated cases, civil and criminal serious injury cases and traffic homicide investigations.
More: Traffic talk: One of the most stressful Fort Myers intersections is getting a makeover
The unit investigated 27 fatal crashes in 2024 and three so far in 2025. A traffic homicide investigation is as in depth as a homicide investigation and often more complex.
'The FDOT 2025 Highway Safety Matrix - Rank of Florida Cities (population over 75,000) Report based on total actual serious injuries and fatalities (2018-2022) has the City of Fort Myers ranked in the top 38 worst cities for serious injury and fatal crashes in six of nine categories tracked,' says the budget request. 'The City of Cape Coral is also listed in this report, and they are in 7 of the 9 categories. In 2024 our city investigated over 5,000 crashes. Lee County investigated over 7,000. From 2017 through 2022, the city averaged over 4,800 crash investigations a year. The City of Fort Myers has a resident population of approximately 104,100 people, which produces an approximately five percent crash to population ratio. The county has a resident population of approximately 858,937 and a crash to population ratio of about one percent. The number of traffic crashes occurring in the City of Fort Myers is significant. The agency must take significant measures in re-structuring the traffic unit to make an impact on crash reduction.'
Department spokesperson Megan Fuentes said the budget request does not include new personnel, but the department will try to address needs by filling 29 empty sworn officer positions. Some of those new officers, she said, are currently in the academy or in field training.
Following are excerpts from the proposed budget:
This memorandum includes the budgetary request for the Police Department for Fiscal Year 2026.
Fleet
26 New and Replacement vehicles for our fleet. These vehicles will replace current high mileage vehicles and vehicles that were in accidents and totaled. The additional vehicles will also ensure that we can continue to offer a take home vehicle for all eligible Officers.
2025 Ford Utility – (20 - Patrol) $1,240,380.00
2025 Ford Active SUV – (2 - Detective) $79,809.82
2025 Ford Ranger Truck – (1 - VIP) $40,793.00
2025 Ford F150 Truck – (1 – HOT Team) $50,251.00
2025 Ford Utility – (2 - Lieutenant) $117,702.00
Supply & Logistics
Uniform Supplies and Accessories (CSA & Civilian) $25,000
Professional Standards Bureau
Training Division Requested Equipment
Funds for Academy Sponsorship – These funds would be used to provide sponsorship to the police academy for newly hired police officers. Based on the current 29 Police Officer vacancies. $20,000
Waterborne Dive Gear and Wet Duty Gear – Specialized gear will enable water-based training for water survival and waterborne defensive tactics. o $12,000
Department Awards Programs
Department Awards and Annual Banquet – To cover the cost of annual banquet, awards and ribbons. $5,500
Investigative Services Bureau
Detective Division
Flash & External Hard Drives – More and more of our investigations involve high resolution cameras from places of business and residences. The storage provided for this is immense and then it must be stored in evidence for a prolonged period. We are requesting to increase the current budget to $20,000.
Flash & External Hard Drives Cost $20,800
Crime Scene Unit
Additional Crim-Lite Auto to assist in documenting evidence at the crime scene using a high[1]sensitivity UV/Vis/IR camera capable of capturing images beyond the visible spectrum. Currently it is difficult for us to reveal and capture specific evidence under UV and IR light with multiple filter camera attachment. This device is all in one with full spectrum of lights, filters all built into a handheld device with a large touchscreen to capture the evidence digitally. Because of our limited space this is the perfect compact device to further improve our evidence workflow and increase the efficiency of examinations.
One Crime-Lite Auto (Foster & Freeman) – This is a full spectrum UV-Vis-IR digital camera with 55x Illumination Wavebands. It is an all-in-one, searching beyond the visible spectrum, detection, and capture tool all in an instant. The Crime-lite AUTO can quickly reveal evidence including body fluids (semen, saliva, and urine etc.); blood on dark fabrics; fingerprints; gunshot residues; and traces of physical evidence (glass, bone, fibers, hairs, etc.) Document evidence at the crime scene using a high-sensitivity UV/Vis/IR camera capable of capturing images beyond the visible spectrum. Currently it is difficult for us to reveal and capture specific evidence under UV and IR light with multiple filter camera attachment. This device is all in one with full spectrum of lights, filters all built into a handheld device with a large touchscreen to capture the evidence digitally. Because of our limited space this is the perfect compact device to further improve our evidence workflow and increase the efficiency of examinations. Cost $ 50,000
Special Operations Bureau Special Operations Division
Traffic Unit
Equipment: • Three (3) Stalker Q2095020 MC360 Message Trailer with Solar (4'x8') Package 821- 1102-00 MC360 Message Trailer (4'x8') with Strobes and Solaretc $23,581 each. Cost $70,743 4
Two (2) Signs, MPH Speed Wanco Compact WSDT3-S Radar Speed Sign Trailer, Battery Powered and Solar Charging, 26-inch LED Characters $11,989 each. Cost $23,978
Technical Operations Division
The Technical Operations Center functions as advanced support for the Fort Myers Police Department as well as other law enforcement agencies across Southwest Florida. Members assigned to the Technical Operations Center provide both tactical and strategic intelligence for law enforcement investigations and operations. The Technical Operations Center is also responsible for developing, implementing, and managing the Department's Intelligence[1]Driven Policing Strategy
The Technical Operations Center mainly provides intelligence and support through the Department's Real Time Crime Center (RTCC), Analytics and Innovation Team, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, Digital Forensics Unit, Technical Operations Support Team, and Unmanned Ariel Vehicle (UAV) Operations. See a breakdown of all budget item requests included at the end of this memorandum.
The Technical Operations Center is currently staffed by a Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant, nine (9) sworn officers, five (5) crime analysts and one (1) system analyst. The primary focus of the unit is based around the Intelligence-Led Policing Program, Stratified Policing and supporting the Operations Bureau and Detective Bureau. The Bureau also assists several specialty units throughout the agency with advanced analytical analysis, criminal intelligence, digital forensics, and advanced electronic equipment operations.
Additionally, the Technical Operations Center is responsible for the City-Wide Security Camera Program (CitiView), License Plate Reader (LPR) program, and Real Time Crime Center. The Technical Operations Center needs equipment, for the specialized areas in which it provides support for. This request is critical for the Bureau's success and its effectiveness in providing this support. Without the equipment, members of the Technical Operations Center will be limited in terms of the type and level of support they will be able to provide going forward. Budget related requests from the Technical Operations Center are highlighted below:
Real Time Crime Center Equipment upgrade $ 50,000
Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT)
The focus of the FY2026 SWAT Team budget will be to significantly allocate funds to better equip and prepare the team for the high liability situations they are placed in. This specialized equipment is used to safeguard our citizens from life threatening situations and additionally aid in the protection of our operators while in these high-risk situations.
Requested Equipment: One (1) Armored vehicle – The Federal Government has placed restrictions on the current armored vehicle obtained through the 1033 Program. The new restriction does not allow usage in High-Risk Search Warrant situations, which is a large portion of what the SWAT Team is used for. The armored vehicle provides protection from gun fire while the SWAT Team operates in these high-risk situations. Cost $400,000.
Cape Coral has a population more than double that of Fort Myers at over 240,000. Its current police budget is $51.5 million.
Naples has only a little over 21,000 people with a police budget of $20.6 million.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers Police want additional $2.3 million this year for equipment
