Polk Schools have more than 400 job openings a week before school starts theledger.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theledger.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
When Lakeland commissioners have gathered to discuss body cameras for the city s police department, they ve often claimed the controversy is stirred by national events like the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis not local ones.
The fatal shooting of Winter Haven resident Larry Jenkins, 52, by a Winter Haven officer is one example of a local event that spurred questions from residents. On April 18, one day after the incident, Winter Haven Police Chief David Brannan and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd addressed the media to give details of the shooting and announce that Judd s department would investigate.
Brannan and Judd were joined that night at the news conference by four Black ministers from the Winter Haven area. One of those men was Bishop Willie Mincey, the president of the Winter Haven branch of the NAACP.
These factors have raised questions about what happened that night among Winter Haven community leaders like Mincey. It s standard procedure for an outside agency to investigate officer-involved shootings. Hence the Sheriff s Office s involvement.
Momentum seems to be building across the state for body-camera use. According to Florida Department of Law Enforcement reports for 2020, more than 15 police departments and five sheriff’s offices had started using body cameras – or taken steps to implement them – in the past year. At the end of 2020, just over half of the 299 law agencies in Florida who responded to the FDLE still did not use body cameras.
WINTER HAVEN The city of Winter Haven is seeking residents to serve on a new advisory board meant to promote transparency within the police department.
In February, the Winter Haven City Commission approved a resolution establishing the Winter Haven Public Safety Community Advisory Committee. The committee, consisting of nine community members and two alternates, will have the power to look into closed investigations and ask questions about decisions that were made. Additionally, the committee can look into issues such as officer training or controversial proposals, such as mandating officers wear body cameras. The purpose of the committee in my book is to, is to help us have sort of a check and balance between policing today and recognizing that we ve got to do an excellent job of communicating, building trust and establishing relationships day in and day out with all races and genders, City Manager Mike Herr said.
Polk County residents continue to press police about getting body cameras abcactionnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from abcactionnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.