The Polk County Sheriff's Office is investigating an officer-involved shooting involving a Winter Haven Police Department Sergeant that occurred in the Orchid Springs area near Winter Haven Saturday night, April 17, at approximately 10:10 p.m.
WINTER HAVEN — Flanked by uniformed law-enforcement officers, including Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed into law a controversial law-and-order measure sparked by nationwide protests that erupted last year after George Floyd’s death.
On April 15, David Brannan was sworn in as police chief for the Winter Haven Police Department.
Winter Haven Public Safety Director Charlie Bird retired as Winter Haven Police Department Chief on April 10, due to retirement rules for police officers.
On March 26, the Lake Wales Police Department published a press release and a 197-page document detailing the Polk County Sheriff's Office independent investigation regarding the arrest of Lake Wales resident Chris Cordero. PCSO staff concluded that two LWPD officers had done nothing crimina…
HAINES CITY – The Haines City Police Department announced last week it has again been recognized as a nationally-accredited law enforcement agency.
Deputies for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office have charged 30-year-old Courtney Wright, of Winter Haven, with vehicular homicide, fleeing an officer and driving with a suspended license following a crash that occurred yesterday, March 23.
On Friday evening, March 19, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested three PCSO deputies and charged them with felonies related to evidence tampering.
Lake Wales Police Department officer David Colt Black has resigned after a video surfaced that appears to contradict his arrest report for Lake Wales resident Chris Cordero on Feb. 5.
On Feb. 22, Winter Haven City Commission members authorized the creation of the Public Safety Community Advisory Committee (PSCAC).
During a Lake Wales City Commission meeting Feb. 16, more than a dozen Lake Wales residents spoke in favor of purchasing body cameras for Lake Wales Police Department officers.
On Feb. 10, an Amazon delivery van was carjacked from a residential neighborhood near State Road 60, just east of Bartow, and the man responsible is now in the Polk County Jail.
There will be a resolution to be presented at the Feb. 22 Winter Haven City Commission meeting authorizing the creation of the Winter Haven Public Safety Community Advisory Committee.
FORT MEADE — Game cameras helped lead to the arrest of Kevin John Wheeler, 45, of Fort Meade on Saturday by Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies. Wheeler will be charged with removing a monument from the gravesite of one of the triple murder victims in Frostproof last year.
BARTOW — Polk County Fire Cpt. Anthony Damiano, 55, turned himself in to the Polk County Jail on Jan. 27.
A recently resigned Haines City High School teacher and basketball coach was arrested Jan. 26 for sexually engaging with a student on multiple occasions.
Polk Sheriff Grady Judd announced during a news conference last week that Polk County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Peter Heneen, 29, had been charged with making threats of political violence.
Haines City Police have announced an arrest made Tuesday, Jan. 12, of a local man for making threatening remarks about carrying out violence on the nation’s capital.
MOUNT DORA — Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff's Office arrested two men who are accused of robbing a cemetery in Lake County and taking the skulls from four different graves to use in religious practices.
At 6:22 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center (ECC) received several 911 calls related to a pedestrian being struck by a car in the city of Winter Haven on Avenue G NW at 22nd Street NW.
LAKE WALES — New Year’s Eve saw a cyclist hit by a car on U.S. 27 in the area of State Road 60, and run over by four more cars in the process.
SEBRING — Polk County Sheriff’s Office has three men in custody on charges of attempted murder and related charges after attacking a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer.
Around 70 area children had some extra presents under the tree and holiday food on the table thanks to the Lake Wales Police Officers Association’s annual “Shop With A Cop” program.
On Dec. 22, Polk Sheriff Grady Judd was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Judd’s appointment was announced among a host of federal appointments by the outgoing administration.
Polk County Sheriff's Office detectives with the Computer Crimes Unit concluded a month-long special operation to find and arrest those in possession of child pornography on Dec. 21.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office Organized Retail Crime Detectives, working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution, developed eight suspects statewide during an investigation that started in August of 2019.
You’ve probably heard me talk about how safe it is here in Polk County.
On Nov. 30, Winter Haven Public Safety Director Charlie Bird announced that Winter Haven Police Department staff had earned dual accreditation again in 2020. Bird recognized WHPD Accreditation Manager Carla Neil and Deputy Chief David Brannan for their work in getting the agency recognized.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office Organized Retail Crime Detectives, working with the Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's Office of Statewide Prosecution and the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, developed five suspects — all from Georgia — during an investigation that started in August of 20…
On Wednesday, December 2, 18-year-old Tarmetris Daniel Mack and 17-year-old Alfred Higgs, Jr., both of whom are Osceola County residences and who both have Polk County warrants for armed robbery and first degree murder, turned themselves in to the Polk County Sheriff's Office at the Northeas…
A Winter Haven teenager was arrested for allegedly leading three younger teenagers during a home invasion in Polk City on Nov. 9.
Polk Sheriff's Charities, Inc. is sponsoring a free turkey giveaway Saturday, Nov. 21, at three Polk County locations.
WINTER HAVEN — On Nov. 6, Winter Haven Public Safety Director Charlie Bird announced that Beloni Petit-Frere had been charged in the murders Leslee Umpleby and Timothy Anderson at the Rose Motel on Oct. 14.
Deputies from the Polk County Sheriff's Office responded to a domestic violence call in unincorporated Bartow at around 8:40 a.m., Sunday, November 8.
Ed Palmer officially became the Lake Wales Police Department’s community liaison officer on Sept. 14.
The month of November is Aviation History Month, so I figured it would be interesting to not only take a look back at the history of the Aviation Unit at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, but also fill you in on what the unit does for our fine community.
BARTOW — Years in the making, in October the Bartow Police Department became an accredited force, according to Interim Police Chief Bryan Dorman.
Three Polk County Sheriff's Office deputies defended themselves with lethal force Wednesday, Oct. 14, when a Polk County resident living near Frostproof rushed them while holding a machete over his head.
Winter Haven police detectives are asking for the public’s help in locating 38 year-old Beloni Petitfrere – a person of interest who may have knowledge about a double homicide Oct. 14 at the Rose Motel, located on U.S.17 in Winter Haven.
In the aftermath of an almost fatal truck versus bicycle hit-and-run accident in Frostproof on Monday, Oct. 12, many took to social media in an attempt to bring the truck driver out of hiding.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office narcotics detectives developed information in September of 2020 that a source of illegal narcotics was trafficking methamphetamine from Colorado to Polk County.
HAINES CITY – Winter Haven Police Department officers won first place in the “Hoops & Heroes” fundraiser basketball tournament, held Oct. 2 to benefit the Ridge Community High School Lady Bolts basketball team.
When the state of Florida legalized medical marijuana, it created a lot of confusion as to what is legal and illegal.
FROSTPROOF – Polk County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested Amanda Lynn Brown Sept. 23 for fraudulently setting up a GoFundMe account to benefit the families of Brandon Rollins, Keven Springfield and Damion Tillman.
BARTOW — In the wake of another police officer's resignation, this after the officer reportedly uttered a homophobic slur towards a citizen, Bartow Interim Police Chief Bryan Dorman is mandating additional implicit bias training department-wide.
DAVENPORT – Impaired while on a drug called acid, a 19-year-old from Orlando who had been staying with friends at a Four Corners area hotel wandered to a nearby apartment complex and wound up fatally shot in the early hours of Sept. 6.
One suspect has been arrested and another is still at-large, according to Polk County Sheriff’s Office officials, following an armed robbery and carjacking in Winter Haven last week.
Officials from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office say Mayson Armando Ortiz-Vazquez, of Orlando, went on a rampage through a Lakeland neighborhood the morning of Aug. 28 that ended in his death.
HAINES CITY – A Haines City couple was arrested on Aug. 25 for running an illegal virtual
The Polk County Sheriff's Office is investigating a fatal shooting that occurred in the unincorporated area of Auburndale.
WINTER HAVEN – Polk County Sheriff's Office detectives recently arrested a youth boxing trainer on multiple drug-related charges.
