The Danger of Hiding Crime Data in Polk County
It has now been months since Sheriff Grady Judd turned off the crime blotter for the public. And we are still scratching our heads. We can estimate that at least 4,000 crimes have occurred since then. Burglaries, robberies, thefts, shootings, arsons, and home invasions are now invisible to the public. Why would any police agency reduce transparency? In the twelve years that I have been reaching out to police agencies, I have never seen an agency get operationally better by hiding information from the public. Not sharing crime data publicly reduces transparency and retards accountability. Almost every major agency in Florida provides data to the public. Sheriff Judd is one of the exceptions. Removal of public access to crime information significantly reduces the public’s perception of the difficult daily work Polk County Sheriff’s deputies face responding to everyday crimes. Currently, only the showboat busts that the Sheriff uses to promote himself are being made public.