Fort Myers Police Chief Jason Fields just finished his first year as the top cop.
"Hitting the ground running, which is exactly what I wanted to do," Fields said.
Violent crime in past years was always at the forefront. Cracking down on crime and drugs is a main priority, but his team is also focusing on our roads.
"We put more people into our traffic unit, and we are proactive instead of reactive," Fields said.
Fields said the department is also investing in new technology, such as getting their first camera towers, new drones, and safety equipment, which helps during big events.
Downtown Fort Myers is a main attraction, and the goal is to keep it safe, with eyes both on the ground and in the sky.
"St. Patrick's Day, Fourth of July, New Year's Eve, people congregate in a small area, and we have very few incidents," Fields said.
Community engagement and workplace morale are two more areas the chief hopes to improve.
"People are able to engage with us and not seeing us always in some type of enforcement action," Fields said.
To strengthen camaraderie within the department, they have reintroduced a mentoring program that allows more senior staff to work with newer cops on the road.
When asked about shortcomings, Fields mentioned instances when his officers made the choice to pull the trigger.
We talked specifically about the death of Christopher Jordan when a Fort Myers police officer's use of deadly force was called into question.
We asked him why the department only chose to release a short clip of the body camera footage.
"I want to maintain the integrity of the investigation. The last thing I want to do is compromise the investigation in a negative way because of giving out too much information, and an active investigation should not be discussed, and I want to make that clear," Fields said.
At the end of the day, Fields is happy with the past year and excited for the next one.
He said he's looking forward to breaking ground on the new police department and keeping crime numbers down.
"I feel great. The time went very fast, and it was very busy," Fields said.