Click Here for ADA Accessible Format

Polk County Sheriff’s Phone# 863-298-6200

If in an emergency Dial 911

Polk County Sheriff Facebook Polk County Sheriff Twitter Polk County Sheriff Instagram Polk County Sheriff Youtube

Hit enter to search or ESC to close

News and Investigations

News & Investigations

News Releases and Public Information

Welcome to the Polk County Sheriff's Office News Room, where the Public Information Officers (PIO's) post all of the information that they release to the news media. PIO's act as liaisons between news media organizations and the Sheriff's Office. The PIO's routinely release timely and accurate information and Crime Stoppers bulletins, and respond to routine and "breaking news" media inquiries. News releases and Crime Stoppers information can be found on this page.

PCSO's full-time Public Information Officers are Brian Bruchey, Carrie Horstman, and Alicia Manautou. The Public Information Officers can be reached by sending an e-mail collectively at PIOs@polksheriff.org

The recent news releases sent out by the PIOs can be found here, and archived releases (older than 2017) can be found here.

Nov 26, 2019

Former detective arrested on new charges after review of all cases assigned to him

Media Contact: Carrie Horstman, PIO

On Monday, November 25, 2019, PCSO detectives arrested 31-year-old Dennis Jones, Jr., for 22 counts public servant falsifying official records (F-3), two counts forgery (F-3), and two counts uttering false instrument (F-3). He was booked into the Polk County Jail, and is being held on $260,000 bond ($10,000 per charge).

Jones was originally arrested on September 17, 2019, for two counts public servant falsifying official records (F-3), one count forgery (F-3), and one count uttering false instrument (F-3), for falsifying two waivers of prosecution in his capacity as a PCSO detective. He resigned immediately upon his arrest.
 
Detectives evaluated every case assigned to Jones during his tenure as a detective, and found 22 more reports that contained falsified documents created by him. His actions did not result in any unlawful arrests, nor in a failure to arrest a suspect. The common denominator in the 22 reports was his effort to take shortcuts and reduce his workload.

PCSO detectives obtained a warrant for Jones' arrest, and he was taken into custody without incident. He will have a first appearance hearing at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon.

"We are extremely disappointed in - and embarrassed by - Jones' lazy, deceitful conduct as a sworn law enforcement officer. He betrayed the trust of the men and women with whom he worked, and the public he was entrusted to serve. We want the community to know that we will always hold those who betray the public's trust accountable, and that it's our intention he is convicted and sent to state prison." - Grady Judd, Sheriff