The extraordinary number of deaths has left classmates, parents, teachers and staff grieving.
Tag: Grady Judd
Posted inCrime / Justice
Spate of Violent Juvenile Gang Crimes Shocked Lakeland in 2023
The judicial circuit that handles Polk County cases is the toughest in the state for prosecuting juveniles.
Posted inCrime / Justice
One Year After 11 Men were Shot in Lakeland, 2 Convictions and 2 Plea Agreements
Florida’s “10-20-Life” statute has not been used in the Iowa Ave. prosecutions or shooters’ prior cases.
Posted inEducation
Drills, False Alarms Take Mental Toll on Students, Parents, Teachers
Those calling in false threats can be arrested and charged with a felony.
Posted inCrime / Justice
State Leaders Gather in Polk To Discuss Human Trafficking as Exploitation of Migrant Children Surges
Technology gives predators more access to children, but it also enables investigators to bring down entire networks of traffickers.
Posted inPeople
Part 4: Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd Becomes a National Figure
As Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd’s star rose during the 2000s, so did his political cachet. He has spent time in Washington, D.C., at The White House and at local campaign stops with several presidents. Those meetings stretch back to the early 1980s, when President Jimmy Carter came to Polk County to fish and shook […]
Posted inPeople
Part 3: Sheriff Grady Judd Has Faced Controversies, Protected Children
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd’s career has had its share of controversies that made him a sometimes polarizing figure. One sticking point with some residents has been his adamant opposition to equipping his deputies or their patrol cars with cameras, saying it’s an invasion of privacy, costs too much, and that most people in the […]
Posted inPeople
Part 2: Sheriff Grady Judd Based a Career on ‘Doing What’s Right’
One of Deputy Grady Judd’s early arrests came the night of the sheriff’s office Christmas party in the mid-1970s, when he saved the Baby Jesus.
Posted inPeople
Part 1: Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd Marks 50 Years in Law Enforcement
On the sweltering summer evening of July 21, 1972, a tall, skinny, 18-year-old – sporting a mustache because it “made him look older” — walked into the Bartow headquarters of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office on Broadway Avenue and started his first official night shift in the communications office, answering emergency calls for help as […]
