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General Information

The Polk County Sheriff's Office is a full service law enforcement agency serving Polk County Florida. Polk County is the fourth largest county in the state with 2,010.2 total square miles, 1,874.9 square miles of which is land area. The Sheriff is an independent constitutional officer and by function is statutorily charged with the responsibility of providing all primary law enforcement services within Polk County. The agency also provides related law enforcement services to the entire county, including: civil and criminal process, limited service response, assistance to municipal agencies, crime prevention and education programs, victim assistance services, and providing school crossing guards for the Polk County School System.

The Sheriff is presently given the responsibility for the administration and every day operation of the Central County Jail, South County Jail Facilities, and Sheriff's Training and Respect Program to include prisoner transportation throughout the state.

The Sheriff is also statutorily charged with the responsibility for providing deputies to attend the Board of County Commissioners meetings and for all sessions of Polk County and Circuit Courts within Polk County.

The Sheriff’s Office employs 1,550 full-time (572 sworn, 428 certified, 550 civilians), 256 part-time, and 1,000 volunteer members. The Polk County Sheriff's Office primary service response area consists of the unincorporated areas of Polk County (those area with Polk County that are outside city limits). The unincorporated area of Polk County totals approximately 1,909 of the county's total 2,010.2 square miles.  This service area is subdivide into specific geographic areas of directed patrol and investigative responsibility composed of two regions, four districts, and twelve sectors.

The Sheriff's Office is a seven star accredited agency which consists of:

CALEA - Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.

• Original Accreditation: 11/19/1994

• Re-accreditation: 11/19/1997

• Re-accreditation: 11/19/2000

• Re-accreditation: 11/19/2003

• Re-accreditation: 11/19/2006 - Flagship Designation

PSCA - Public Safety Communications Accreditation Program

• Accredited: 3/23/2002

• Re-accreditation: 3/23/2005

• Re-accreditation: 3/23/2008

CFA - Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation, Inc.

• Accredited: 5/27/1998

• Re-accreditation: 5/23/2001

• Re-accreditation: 6/23/2004

• Re-accreditation: 6/06/2007

FCAC - Florida Corrections Accreditation Commission, Inc.

• Accredited: 10/3/2000

• Re-accreditation: 10/07/2003

• Re-accreditation: 10/10/2006

NIGP - National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, Inc.

Outstanding Agency Accreditation Achievement Award

• Original Accreditation: 3/1/2002

• Re-accreditation: 3/1/2005

• Re-accreditation: 3/1/2008

NCCHC - National Commission on Correctional Health Care

• Original Accreditation: 1985

• The Sheriff's Office has maintained this accreditation since it was originally awarded

• Re-accreditation: June 2006

PSTAA - Public Safety Training Academy Accreditation Program

• Initial Accreditation : 03/17/2007

Organizational Structure

The Polk County Sheriff's Office is presently comprised of three main organizational components (departments) structured as to their relative agency function.

• Office of the Sheriff
• Department of Law Enforcement
• Department of Detention
• Office of Business Affairs

• Mission Statement
• Core Values

Polk County

Polk County is located in central Florida on the Interstate 4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando. Expansion from these two areas places Polk County between two of the largest and fastest growing cities in Florida. Satellite communities are being built on the east side of the county from Walt Disney World development. These communities are expected to add thousands of new residents in the next few years.

The Central Florida Development Council estimates that 1,570,000 people visit Polk County each year on a tourist basis. Police services for those visitors adds greatly to the law enforcement task.

The production of citrus is a major industry in Polk County.  Migrant and seasonal farm workers (MSFW) are needed to harvest and process the fruit from October to May every year.  Who are these workers? The migrant population is a diverse one, and its composition varies from region to region. However, it is estimated that 85% of all migrant workers are minorities, of whom most are Hispanic (including Mexican-Americans as well as Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and workers from Central and South America). The migrant population also includes Black Americans, Jamaicans, Haitians, Laotians, Thais, and other racial and ethnic minorities.  

The Migrant Health program estimated there were 16,525 MSFW workers and 7505 non-workers living in Polk County as of September 2000. This estimate was based on the "Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Enumeration Profiles Study" by Alice C. Larson, Ph.D., Larson Assistance Services for The National Center for Farmworker Health.

The varied ethnic and racial origins can cause disputes and violence within labor camps. Four of the community policing offices are in areas with large migrant worker populations.

Polk County is winter home to thousands of Canadians and others from the northern states. Many of these persons have a second home here. New retirement communities are being built yearly adding to the over fifty-five population.

Also Visit the Imperial Polk County Web Page