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 Meghan Petty. 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.

May 31, 2018

PCSO Joins 'Neighbors' by Ring to Provide Residents with Real-Time Local Crime and Safety Information

Media Contact: Carrie Horstman, PIO

'Neighbors' aims to reduce crime in neighborhoods by connecting people, security cameras, and law enforcement.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office is joining other law enforcement agencies in Florida and nationwide by joining the Neighbor mobile app (available on iOS and Android) to provide Polk County residents with real-time crime prevention and safety information. The Neighbors app by Ring is a virtual neighborhood watch used by residents to share information with each other and law enforcement.

"We're excited about this new and innovative tool that we can use to keep our citizens safe. We're already using Nextdoor and Alert Polk, along with our other social media platforms, to send out real-time, area-specific information regarding crime trends, and now Neighbors is one more way we can communicate with our residents, and another great way people can talk to and look out for each other." - Grady Judd, Sheriff

About Neighbors:

Neighbors is a neighborhood watch mobile phone application that provides real-time, local crime and safety information. Download the free Neighbors app on iOS or Android, join your neighborhood, and use the app to: monitor neighborhood activity; share crime and safety-related videos, photos and text-based posts; and receive real-time safety alerts from your neighbors, local law enforcement and the Ring team. Download Neighbors from the App Store or Google Play Store today to join your digital neighborhood watch. For more information visit www.ring.com/neighbors.

About Ring:

Ring's mission is to reduce crime in neighborhoods by creating a Ring of Security around homes and communities. The Ring product line, along with Neighbors by Ring, enable Ring to offer affordable, whole-home and neighborhood security devices and services. For more information, visit www.ring.com.

Here's How It Works:

Download the Neighbors app on iOS or Android
Opt-in to join your neighborhood.
Customize the geographic area you want to receive notifications for (users must verify where they are located and cannot participate in other neighborhoods).
Receive real-time alerts from your neighbors, local law enforcement and the Ring team that inform of crime and safety alerts as they happen.
View local crime and safety posts via a live feed or interactive map.
Share text updates, photos and videos taken on any device, including Ring's home security devices.
Work with your community to make neighborhoods safer.

In the same way that the PCSO Nextdoor social media platform cannot view your own neighborhood's Nextdoor page, PCSO will not have access to your Neighbors or Ring accounts. Instead, the user will be given the option to share information with PCSO from the Neighbors app.

For example, if you receive an alert from PCSO that a crime has occurred in your area, you will be given the option to send PCSO any photos or video through the Neighbors app - you can also decline. If at any time you wish to share information through the Neighbors app with PCSO, you can do so. The PCSO account will be monitored by crime analysts, but will NOT be a form of reporting crime. We do still urge residents to dial 9-1-1 in an emergency, or 863-298-6200 to report non-emergency crime.