{"id":59898,"date":"2025-12-14T15:49:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T20:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=59898"},"modified":"2025-12-14T15:49:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T20:49:30","slug":"letter-the-community-has-grown-skeptical-of-polk-county-deputies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2025\/12\/14\/letter-the-community-has-grown-skeptical-of-polk-county-deputies\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter &#8211; The Community Has Grown Skeptical of Polk County Deputies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By Black Lives Matter Restoration Polk Inc.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" data-dominant-color=\"564142\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"147\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GradyJudd2-300x147-1.webp?resize=300%2C147\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52448 not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #564142; width:498px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sheriff Grady Judd is a high-profile, beloved figure in Polk County, but his public persona and storytelling should not be mistaken for the day-to-day reality on our streets; he is not the person making arrests or interacting with residents face\u2011to\u2011face, and those deputies deserve the same scrutiny as anyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Too many in our community have grown skeptical of deputies because of repeated allegations of misconduct and conflicting accounts between officers and the people they stop, and that skepticism is not limited to any one neighborhood or race\u2014white residents report problems just as often, which makes this clearly an accountability issue, not a racial one.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" data-dominant-color=\"524548\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"251\" height=\"381\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-14T154326.257.webp?resize=251%2C381&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59899 not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #524548; width:308px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-14T154326.257.webp?w=251&amp;ssl=1 251w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-14T154326.257.webp?resize=198%2C300&amp;ssl=1 198w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019ve been so normalized to the sheriff\u2019s sideshow-style press and viral moments that transparency gets traded for entertainment, and a funny or dramatic narrative from the top does not equal the full truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bystander video showing a deputy with a boot on a person\u2019s neck for what appears to be an extended time raises urgent questions about protocol: it is not routine to keep someone prone and unsecured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In contrast, they seem to be restrained or struggling, and when multiple deputies are present, they should be able to subdue someone without resorting to a foot on the neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because so many interactions go unrecorded, incidents like this are too often overlooked or explained away; mandatory body and cruiser cameras would provide the objective record we need to evaluate tactics, enforce policy, and restore public trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Black Lives Matter Restoration Polk Inc.\" width=\"563\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GwIwsxa_ljQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Disclaimer:<\/strong>\u00a0The newspaper does not necessarily agree with the opinions, ideas, beliefs, or viewpoints expressed in the letters and op-ed pieces the newspaper publishes. The newspaper does not endorse the pieces, nor do they reflect the newspaper\u2019s viewpoints or official policies. The newspaper publishes the pieces as a public service to further public commentary and debate as space allows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Black Lives Matter Restoration Polk Inc. Sheriff Grady Judd is a high-profile, beloved figure in Polk County, but his public persona and storytelling should not be mistaken for the&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNVwvMTJcL1NjcmVlbnNob3QtMjAyNS0xMi0xNFQxNTQzMjYuMjU3LndlYnA_Zml0PTI1MSUyQzM4MSZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkxldHRlciAmIzgyMTE7IFRoZSBDb21tdW5pdHkgSGFzIEdyb3duIFNrZXB0aWNhbCBvZiBQb2xrIENvdW50eSBEZXB1dGllcyIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiaGlnaHdheSIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.YhisJgV8VuD1PPsWK7BN_pdGzcGbgE77JmIzdrY_8moMQ"},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":59899,"url":"http:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-14T154326.257.webp","type":"image\/png"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[12846],"class_list":["post-59898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letters","tag-letter-the-community-has-grown-skeptical-of-polk-county-deputies"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59898","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=59898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59900,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59898\/revisions\/59900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}