{"id":39912,"date":"2023-12-07T11:03:29","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T16:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=39912"},"modified":"2023-12-07T11:03:33","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T16:03:33","slug":"big-grady-sends-little-grady-to-duck-public-questions-about-his-5m-spy-plane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2023\/12\/07\/big-grady-sends-little-grady-to-duck-public-questions-about-his-5m-spy-plane\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Grady sends Little Grady to duck public questions about his $5M spy plane"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By BILLY TOWNSEND<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commissioners approve $5M sheriff&#8217;s spy plane without any guidelines or safeguards; Commissioner Rick Wilson then claims the sheriff adamantly opposes using school zone speed cameras to protect kids.<\/p>\n\n\n        \n        <div class=\"embedpress-gutenberg-wrapper source-provider-Youtube aligncenter ep-clear   ep-content-protection-disabled inline\" id=\"a70a7d01-988e-4d25-9819-8625a56fff9c\" data-embed-type=\"Youtube \">\n            <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper \">\n                <div id=\"ep-gutenberg-content-ae11eb665c1c1d01d5cc444937f709e6\" class=\"ep-gutenberg-content\">\n                    <div >\n                        <div class=\"ep-embed-content-wraper preset-default insta-grid ep-google-photos-carousel\"\n                            style=\"max-width:600px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\"                                                                                                                >\n\n                            <div class=\"ose-youtube ose-uid-8f61732e6ec2f80d07c556aa825ec7b9 ose-embedpress-responsive\" style=\"width:600px; height:340px; max-height:340px; max-width:100%; display:inline-block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" title=\"Wilson: sheriff against school speed zone cameras\" width=\"600\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fuW2gF2cq2U?feature=oembed&#038;color=red&#038;rel=1&#038;controls=2&#038;start=true&#038;end=true&#038;fs=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; encrypted-media;accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;gyroscope;picture-in-picture clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen title=\"Big Grady sends Little Grady to duck public questions about his M spy plane\"><\/iframe><\/div>                        <\/div>\n\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    \n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Polk Sheriff Grady Judd is \u201c100 percent against\u201d speed zone cameras for school zones that might help protect student pedestrians and bikers from reckless drivers because \u201che thinks the human being factor ought to be in it\u201d and \u201c[the sheriff] is the one who would have to issue the tickets,\u201d Polk County Commissioner Rick Wilson said Tuesday. Watch the short clip below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Wilson spoke, the County Commission agreed to have a thorough work session to consider all the angles and issues involved in considering the school zone speed cameras, including consultation with Sheriff Judd and the Polk School system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This discussion became more poignant and urgent because it happened on the same day that a McKeel school bus\u00a0killed a 15-year-old Central Florida Aerospace Academy student at an intersection where Polk inheritance baby mogul and Florida Poly failure J.D. Alexander apparently has contractual responsibility for traffic signalization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The speed camera discussion made for a surreal juxtaposition with the commission\u2019s pathetic incuriosity just&nbsp;<strong><em>30 minutes earlier<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;about a new airborne surveillance platform that seems capable at spying on massive swaths of Polk County in detail at any time it\u2019s airborne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As County Commissioner Neil Combee said in introducing the idea: \u201cWe just got through approving a $5 million plane with a big camera on it. The sheriff has cameras all over the place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>No questions answered about the spy plane, which is only \u201cprimarily\u201d aimed at drug dealers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">County Commissioner Neil Combee suggested the school zone cameras about 30 minutes after he and other commissioners approved \u2014 without getting&nbsp;<strong><em>any<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;answers to legitimate and common sense questions \u2014 a massive new airborne spy capability for the same Sheriff Grady who is supposedly \u201c100 percent against\u201d school zone speed cameras to protect kids because he doesn\u2019t want to write tickets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To Neil\u2019s credit, he actually asked some good questions of Ian Floyd, the Sheriff\u2019s Office chief of law enforcement. Grady didn\u2019t bother to come. Watch the 7-minute-ish discussion below. A few things to note:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Floyd \u2014 and commissioners other than Combee \u2014 focus almost entirely on the plane, not the imaging system, which is the actual new and intrusive capability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Floyd said repeatedly the entire package is aimed \u201cprimarily\u201d at drug dealers, but does not address the law enforcement mission space beyond \u201cprimarily\u201d&nbsp;<strong><em>at all<\/em><\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Note that Floyd says \u201cwe&nbsp;<strong><em>don\u2019t<\/em><\/strong>\u201d look into people houses.\u201d He&nbsp;<strong><em>does<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;<strong><em>not say:<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cthis system&nbsp;<strong><em>can\u2019t<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;look into people\u2019s houses.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other than that, you\u2019ll see there is no information useful to public understanding of what this spy platform can do here.<\/p>\n\n\n        \n        <div class=\"embedpress-gutenberg-wrapper source-provider-Youtube aligncenter ep-clear   ep-content-protection-disabled inline\" id=\"2989480d-e0b1-4e44-9fcb-25a600a96ddb\" data-embed-type=\"Youtube \">\n            <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper \">\n                <div id=\"ep-gutenberg-content-f7c34de4471df594f292dc40d946cb33\" class=\"ep-gutenberg-content\">\n                    <div >\n                        <div class=\"ep-embed-content-wraper preset-default insta-grid ep-google-photos-carousel\"\n                            style=\"max-width:600px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\"                                                                                                                >\n\n                            <div class=\"ose-youtube ose-uid-3f25894757f786968da30dd811facaca ose-embedpress-responsive\" style=\"width:600px; height:340px; max-height:340px; max-width:100%; display:inline-block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" title=\"Spy plane, Ian Floyd\" width=\"600\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XfMJxYz3dg0?feature=oembed&#038;color=red&#038;rel=1&#038;controls=2&#038;start=true&#038;end=true&#038;fs=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; encrypted-media;accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;gyroscope;picture-in-picture clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen title=\"Big Grady sends Little Grady to duck public questions about his M spy plane\"><\/iframe><\/div>                        <\/div>\n\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    \n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One further note: According to scuttlebutt I was hearing about a year ago, Ian Floyd was supposed to be running for sheriff now as the retiring Grady Judd\u2019s hand-picked successor. Of course, Grady Judd is not retiring. So I don\u2019t know if the sources chatting with me (including law enforcement sources) were wrong \u2014 or if something happened. But this guy is Little Grady if Big Grady ever shuts it down. Ian Floyd may own this spy plane he doesn\u2019t want to talk about. Just be aware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I personally doubt Grady Judd will ever retire. I think he\u2019s too addicted to the power and status of being Grady. I think he\u2019s addicted to making commissioners (and constituents) jump like Rick Wilson and the crew did on Tuesday. Rendering people subservient makes dictator personalities feel good. I think being Grady makes Grady feel good,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/2d3d4cba-5e1a-4db6-8650-2119b7943c29?j=eyJ1IjoidGNsNmsifQ.48gjcKBKKJaliAqEtjeCB_T1Edy9KSg8xPNVTioqiw8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">so he\u2019s gonna go out like Joe Arpaio one day<\/a>, who finally got unelected at 84 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>My public records request for actual spy plane information<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shortly after Wilson and the rest of the commissioners failed to do their jobs, I sent this public records requests to the Sheriff\u2019s Office, receipt of which was acknowledged:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under Chapter 199 of Florida Statutes, I&#8217;d like to request&nbsp;all written&nbsp;guidelines about the use of the newly approved Kodiak airplane&#8217;s imaging&nbsp;platform. This includes, but is not limited to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Which&nbsp;sheriff&#8217;s office personnel have access to live or stored footage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Under what&nbsp;circumstances can sheriff&#8217;s office personnel view live or stored footage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The effective range\/radius of passive surveillance captured when the plane is operating.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All policies related&nbsp;to footage storage and retention.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m still awaiting any documents, which is suggestive of how seriously the Sheriff\u2019s Office and County Commission take this new ability to spy on the people of Polk County at will. If you want to see the full discussion of school zone cameras leading up to Wilson, you can see that here.<\/p>\n\n\n        \n        <div class=\"embedpress-gutenberg-wrapper source-provider-Youtube aligncenter ep-clear   ep-content-protection-disabled inline\" id=\"800be8b8-378a-4300-ab69-3de76aeedefd\" data-embed-type=\"Youtube \">\n            <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper \">\n                <div id=\"ep-gutenberg-content-344632ee58d50f7c01ca5aea1474d4c4\" class=\"ep-gutenberg-content\">\n                    <div >\n                        <div class=\"ep-embed-content-wraper preset-default insta-grid ep-google-photos-carousel\"\n                            style=\"max-width:600px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\"                                                                                                                >\n\n                            <div class=\"ose-youtube ose-uid-e3528a0fe3e34cdca96589ab58d68122 ose-embedpress-responsive\" style=\"width:600px; height:340px; max-height:340px; max-width:100%; display:inline-block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" title=\"School camera\" width=\"600\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IKgddKcoC7w?feature=oembed&#038;color=red&#038;rel=1&#038;controls=2&#038;start=true&#038;end=true&#038;fs=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; encrypted-media;accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;gyroscope;picture-in-picture clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen title=\"Big Grady sends Little Grady to duck public questions about his M spy plane\"><\/iframe><\/div>                        <\/div>\n\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By BILLY TOWNSEND Commissioners approve $5M sheriff&#8217;s spy plane without any guidelines or safeguards; Commissioner Rick Wilson then claims the sheriff adamantly opposes using school zone speed cameras to protect&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[6977],"class_list":["post-39912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-big-grady-sends-little-grady-to-duck-public-questions-about-his-5m-spy-plane"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}