During a news conference, Sheriff Judd criticized a statewide property tax proposal heading to the ballot later this year after lawmakers removed a key provision in the governor's original plan.
On Monday, the Florida Sheriffs Association released a statement saying they were “significantly concerned” about Amendment 3, which if passed, would increase homestead exemptions from $50,000 to $250,000 over two years. They’re the latest in a wave of resistance against the measure, joining the Florida State Fraternal Order of Police, Florida Professional Firefighters, the Florida Fire Chiefs Association and several prominent county sheriffs in the state, who warn the tax cut could affect funding to first responder services in Florida.
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Sheriff Judd said that detectives were looking into the "suspicious" death of a female victim.
Upon a review of the surveillance footage, investigators said they recognized one of the “female” suspects due to his extensive history of previous arrests.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced that on Friday, deputies arrested 12 adults and 3 juveniles accused of stealing food and drinks from the Wawa in Davenport.
After coming across a Facebook post showing the duct-taped dog, investigators said they jumped into action to find the animal and its owner.
A police officer was taken into custody this week after he was accused of racking up charges on a dead man’s credit card, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
On Wednesday, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announced the results of a recent undercover sting — including the arrest of a local “Santa Claus.”
According to Sheriff Grady Judd, deputies responded to the Lakeland home after being told that the man had called a crisis hotline.
Days after a man was found dead at an apartment complex, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announced that an arrest has finally been made.
Gov. Ron DeSantis rebuked some of Florida’s top law enforcement officials Thursday, criticizing their calls to Congress and President Donald Trump to work on a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants.
A group of sheriffs on a state immigration enforcement board sharply criticized the federal government’s mass deportation efforts Monday, a stark departure from hardline policies in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis has spearheaded collaboration with federal officials to remove all undocumented immigrants.
After a small child was killed by a hit-and-run driver this week, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announced that the suspect has finally been caught.
A Florida man was arrested this week after he tried to stay at a Walmart store overnight as part of a TikTok challenge, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
The officials will highlight Florida’s commitment to enforcing immigration laws and maintaining public safety across the state.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a murder-suicide that left a woman dead, her daughter critically injured, and the woman’s husband dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound three days before Christmas, according to Sheriff Grady Judd.
Deputies said 19-year-old Julian Trevino moved in with the victim last September but was forced to move out because he wasn't helping pay rent.
Sheriff Grady Judd said the man claimed that the incident was part of a TikTok challenge, though he didn't even have a cell phone on him.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and two deputies are now under fire as part of a lawsuit filed over a child rape case that happened nearly a decade ago, according to court records filed on Friday.
A 51-year-old man arrested in Polk County was taken to jail on drug charges, but what deputies found on a body scan inside of the suspect is something Sheriff Grady Judd described as “never seen it before.”
In a release, deputies said that the undercover investigation focused on human trafficking, child predators and illegal immigration.
Most of Central Florida sheriff’s offices say they will no longer enforce Florida’s ban on openly carrying guns after a state appeals court ruled the ban was unconstitutional.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference to discuss the arrests of almost 30 people in an undercover investigation of illegal gambling houses.
A federal agent was attacked by an “illegal alien" on Tuesday morning, sparking an investigation into his whereabouts, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Troy Cortez Walker, who has been held in Polk County Jail since last year, was indicted for first-degree murder related to a drug distribution case.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has announced it’s taken a man into custody who investigators suspect fatally shot someone before jumping into a getaway car.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd will join Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and other officials to discuss the arrests of eight people in a multimillion-dollar fraud case.
Two out-of-state teens have been extradited to Polk County after the sheriff’s office said they swat called an area police department because they were mad at local online gamer..
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is set to speak on Tuesday morning about a groundbreaking fentanyl trafficking investigation, according to the sheriff’s office.
Polk County deputies trying to handcuff somebody in Frostproof shot and killed a different person who hit one of them on the head with a two-by-four, according to Sheriff Grady Judd.
A man armed with a weapon was shot by a Polk County deputy in Lakeland, according to the sheriff's office.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd will discuss the arrest of a Lakeland man accused of setting fire to a home while his roommates were inside.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference to discuss the arrests of 225 people in an undercover investigation named “Fool Around and Find Out.”
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd will speak in Winter Haven to announce multiple arrests made in the wake of a crash investigation that quickly turned into a murder case involving two dead.
Two people are dead after a vehicle crashed into a home hear Lakeland, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Four teenagers were arrested in Polk County following what the sheriff’s office described as the brutal beating of a 35-year-old Mulberry man who wound up in the ICU as a result.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are in Florida with Gov. Ron DeSantis to praise a week long operation that netted 1,120 arrests of people they say were in the country illegally.
A Polk County deputy and a Bartow police officer have been injured during a shooting in Bartow, according to the sheriff’s office.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office to pledge partnership from all levels state to local with soon-to-be President Donald Trump’s administration on tackling illegal immigration.
An investigation by the FBI and Polk County Sheriff’s Office dismantled a gang’s massive check fraud ring that had more than 200 victims, according to law enforcement.
A Polk County man was fatally shot by deputies after making threats to kill himself and his wife on her birthday, according to Sheriff Grady Judd.
A Polk County deputy resigned after he was accused of exposing himself at a Davenport apartment complex, according to a news release.
A teenager who is accused of stabbing his mother to death in Florida was freed last year after charges were dropped in the fatal shooting of his father in Oklahoma.
A 17-year-old boy is accused of stabbing and killing his mother months after he shot and killed his father, according to the Polk County sheriff.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference on Thursday to discuss the arrest of an attorney who’s accused of grand theft.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has distanced himself from a controversial state-level proposal to make such changes to some state parks as adding golf, pickleball and lodging.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference Friday morning to discuss the arrests of three people accused of operating a “mobile marijuana dispensary.”
Officials said all of the suspects were in the U.S. illegally, targeting homes that belonged to small business owners.
A confrontation between a suspect and a Polk County deputy ended in the suspect’s death and left the deputy in the hospital, according to Sheriff Grady Judd.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference to discuss “Operation Rooske,” a three-year investigation into a Lakeland-based drug ring that recently culminated with its leading members named among 64 arrests.
A Lake Wales woman was arrested after running over a man, who was carrying a baby, with her car during an argument, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Everett admitted to drinking around three “coffee mugs of whiskey” the night prior, according to the sheriff's office.
A 17-year-old boy who allegedly reached for a gun in a stolen vehicle Friday night is in critical condition after being shot by a Haines City police officer, according to the city’s police chief and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
A man killed Saturday in a shootout with Polk County sheriff's deputies was identified as a member of the sovereign citizen movement by Sheriff Grady Judd.
Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference on afternoon to discuss a weekend shooting in which a “sovereign citizen” shot two deputies and then was killed when backup deputies returned fire.
Two Polk County deputies are in the ICU after being shot early Saturday by a man who Sheriff Grady Judd said was a sovereign citizen that was killed when backup deputies returned fire.
According to the sheriff’s office, the investigation involved a trafficking ring bringing fentanyl from Mexico into Polk County and other parts of Florida.
A pre-med student at the University of Florida is accused of stabbing his mother to death on Saturday afternoon, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Among those arrested were coaches, military servicemembers and a school teacher, along with several other professions, deputies announced.
Winter Park police on Tuesday captured a man accused of killing someone last week in Poinciana, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
A wanted man out of Polk County was taken into custody on Tuesday following a fatal shooting out of Poinciana last week, according to the sheriff’s office.
While they were searching, detectives spotted Martinez “casually walking” on a sidewalk north of Eagle Lake, Judd explained.
As part of the case, the sheriff’s office began searching for Hernandez’s vehicle, and it was ultimately determined that she had been murdered, Judd said.
Nearly a dozen people were arrested as part of a multi-agency investigation into two separate drug trafficking organizations, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
In a release, deputies said that the animal cruelty investigation involved a mobile home in Frostproof.
Daquan Carey faces a charge of attempted murder after deputies said he shot at the man who stabbed his friend in a Publix last month.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference Thursday afternoon to discuss the arrest of a private school teacher accused of illegal conduct with a 15-year-old girl.
A carjacking in Duval County leads to a high-speed chase and ends with the driver dead.
The lawsuit claims that during a 2020 child pornography investigation, a Polk County man was falsely arrested after asking to speak to a lawyer.
The son of a Polk County pastor was found dead and his killer was arrested, but detectives are working to figure out the motive.
An arrest has been made in a deadly road rage shooting on an I-4 off-ramp that killed an Altamonte Springs man, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials say a Florida death row inmate convicted of killing a deputy and two other people more than 40 years ago has died in prison.
After Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd called for the arrest of a driver who struck and killed a 9-year-old boy on Friday, the suspect reportedly turned himself over that night.
A Florida teacher and Disney employees are among 219 people arrested in a human trafficking sting by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
He had been driving near the Winter Haven airport when he lost control of the motorcycle, causing both himself and a woman to be ejected, deputies said.
Four people were arrested after a 15-year-old boy was found dead in a Polk County driveway last week, according to sheriff’s officials, in a case involving drugs and an illegal gun sale.
A now-former high school track coach in Polk County with an alleged history of attempts to sexually batter his students was arrested Thursday in what Sheriff Grady Judd called a remarkably disturbing case.
A man with a knife who allegedly jumped from bushes at law enforcement in an Auburndale neighborhood Tuesday evening was shot and killed by two officers and a Polk County deputy, according to Sheriff Grady Judd.
