Lieutenant Arturo Gonzalez, who led the Fort Myers Police Department’s special enforcement division, abruptly retired this week after allegations he was caught on city surveillance video in an affectionate moment with a human resources employee earlier this month, the Florida Trident confirmed.
Gonzalez made a quick and quiet exit from the department after nearly 30 years of service just days after a formal complaint was lodged by former detective Emelia Lock, who alleged the lawman’s “inappropriate romantic relationship” with HR employee Amber Colon represents a conflict of interest in her recent discrimination case.
In the May 21 complaint, Lock describes how the alleged romance between Colon and Gonzalez, who is married to another FMPD administrative employee, was discovered.
“Their relationship was observed publicly while Lt. Gonzalez was working overtime,” wrote Lock, who spent ten years with the department before resigning last October, “and surveillance footage confirming this encounter has already been viewed by individuals within the City.”
When reached by phone at the city, Colon, who is also married, refused to comment on whether she had a romantic relationship with Gonzalez.
“I know there is surveillance all around city hall and it’s not uncommon for an employee to be seen with another employee,” said Colon. “I think I need to consult with the director of HR. I’m not gonna deny or confirm anything until I know I’m allowed to have a conversation with you.”
Efforts to contact Gonzalez were not successful and the police department had not responded to a request for an interview or statement from Chief Jason Fields prior to press time. The Trident’s public information requests for the lieutenant’s resignation letter and a copy of the alleged surveillance video remain outstanding as well.
It was Colon who was assigned last year to investigate Lock’s discrimination and retaliation complaint against her former supervisor, Sgt. Scott Newbury. Lock contends Gonzalez was Newbury’s “closest personal friend,” making the outgoing lieutenant’s alleged relationship with Colon “a serious and undeniable conflict of interest.”
“The HR employee [Colon] responsible for investigating my complaint was romantically involved with someone closely connected to the primary subject of my allegations,” Lock wrote in her May 21 complaint to Human Resources Director Marvlyn Scott. “No reasonable standard of HR practice would permit an investigator with such a conflict to oversee a case involving individuals tied to their romantic partner.”
Lock alleged Colon failed to interview witnesses and broke confidences in her investigation, which ended with a finding of “unsubstantiated.” Evidence of a hidden romantic relationship between Colon and Gonzalez, she contended, “calls into question the fairness, objectivity, and legitimacy of the entire process.”
Colon, after refusing to discuss the allegations of an affair, defended her investigation. To back up her contention there was no conflict of interest, she specified there was no romantic relationship with Gonzalez “last year.” When asked if that was an admission she had such a relationship with Gonzalez this year, Colon responded that again she wouldn’t “entertain” questions on the topic. “You’re saying there’s video footage of me so what can I say?” she said. “I haven’t seen a copy of the video.”
She insisted her investigation of Lock’s discrimination and retaliation complaint last year was unbiased.
“I stand behind my work ethic,” she said. “I shared my response with [Lock], I interviewed many people in her department, and I would never put myself out like that, especially regarding another woman of color or someone that’s marginalized. There’s no way I would not bring to light anything that needed to be brought to light.”
Lock alleged in her discrimination complaint that Newbury, who retired last year, harassed her following her taking family leave for the birth of her child in 2021, creating a hostile work environment that ultimately led to her removal as the city’s representative in the Metro Drug Unit task force. She was transferred to the narcotics division where she served until her resignation in 2025.
“I described how I was singled out, scrutinized, and repeatedly questioned about my ability to perform my job duties solely because I had a child, a treatment my male colleagues did not experience,” she wrote in the May 21 complaint. “Sergeant Newbury even joked that my FMLA leave was a ‘vacation.’”
Lock said she specifically asked Colon not to notify Capt. Michael Walsh – Newbury’s supervisor and “close personal friend” – of the investigation, in part because Walsh was also a subject of the complaint along with Newbury.
“During my HR meeting, I explicitly requested confidentiality due to fear of retaliation,” Lock wrote. “Within a week, I learned that Captain Walsh had already been informed of my complaint and had discussed it [with others].”
Colon admitted she notified Walsh of the investigation.
“I did have that conversation with Captain Walsh,” she told the Trident. “I needed to have conversations with him because he was the person who was supervising that division at that time.”
Lock, who was a finalist for Officer of the Year in 2018, requested in her May 21 complaint that the entire matter be re-investigated in light of the circumstances of Gonzalez’s departure. On Thursday, she met with Scott, Fort Myers’ human resources director, and said Scott informed her a new investigation into the matter was indeed being undertaken by the city.
“All I want is accountability,” said Lock. “They may not be able to do anything for me, but I think the public deserves to know what is going on in that department. I don’t want things to be hush-hush anymore because that’s the reason why they’ve gotten away with so much.”
About the Author: Bob Norman is a senior editor for the Florida Trident. His work as an investigative reporter has won dozens of awards and led to criminal charges and the removal of several corrupt public officials. He can be reached at norman@flcga.org. The Florida Trident is an investigative news outlet focusing on government accountability and transparency across Florida. The Trident was created and first published in 2022 by the Florida Center for Government Accountability, a non-profit organization that facilitates local investigative reporting across the state.
