POLKcast featuring Grady Judd transcript
The alligators.
00:00:01.910 –> 00:00:06.040
Yeah, well the, the alligators, you
know, gotta eat too, right? <laugh>?
00:00:06.150 –> 00:00:09.920
That’s a joke. That’s a
joke everybody. But yeah,
00:00:09.920 –> 00:00:11.400
you gotta watch out for the alligators.
00:00:11.460 –> 00:00:15.120
But I haven’t figured out a way how
to legally put them in jail yet. Yeah.
00:00:15.750 –> 00:00:16.240
Make.
00:00:16.240 –> 00:00:19.520
That another kinda free form.
I can go make a juice solo.
00:00:19.520 –> 00:00:23.640
Maybe want to tap toe another kind of
free foam. I can know. Make a good solo.
00:00:23.640 –> 00:00:24.600
Maybe want tap toe.
00:00:25.550 –> 00:00:28.320
I do wanna open it with this
though. This is a podcast.
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Anything you say can and
will be held against you.
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<Laugh> Good.
00:00:31.920 –> 00:00:32.753
<Laugh> <laugh>.
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Okay, perfect. Understood.
00:00:35.170 –> 00:00:39.040
So welcome to Polk Cast Polk State
College’s official podcast. I’m your host,
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Madison Fantozzi.
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And I’m your cohost Leah Bartholomay.
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Today’s guest does not need
an introduction. Listeners,
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you will recognize his
voice instantly. However,
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his background and accomplishments are
important to share as we delve into this
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very special Polk cast with one of
Polk County’s most renowned leaders.
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Sheriff Grady Judd joins us to share
about his 50 years with the Polk County
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Sheriff’s Office and how it all started
right here at Polk State College.
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Sheriff Judd went on to earn bachelor
and master’s degrees from Molins College.
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He is also a graduate of the FBI National
Academy Senior Management Institute
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for Police, FBI Law Enforcement
Executive Development Seminar,
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and the FBI National Executive Institute.
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In addition to being named a Polk
State College distinguished alumnus in
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May, 2003,
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sheriff Judd is a member of the Polk
County Public School’s Hall of Fame and a
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recipient of the Boy Scouts of
America Distinguished Citizen Award.
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He has also served as president of the
Florida Sheriff’s Association and the
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major County Sheriff’s of
America. Welcome Sheriff Judd and.
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Thank you for joining us today.
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Well, it’s certainly my
honor to be with you today.
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Awesome. Well,
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it’s safe to say that our listeners know
your story or at least pieces of your
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biography,
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but they may not have known that you are
a graduate of what was then Polk Junior
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College.
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So will you walk us through your time
growing up in Lakeland and what inspired
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you to start a career in law enforcement?
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Well, absolutely.
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I was born and raised in Polk
County and specifically in Lakeland.
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I love Lakeland. I graduated from
the Lakeland High School in 1972.
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I can tell you at the time I
was very frustrated with high
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school.
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I made good enough grades
just to graduate because I
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thought high school
was in the way of life.
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I already had my goals planned out.
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I worked for the ambulance even
during high school part-time.
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And then I wanted to work
for the sheriff’s office
and ultimately be a deputy
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and eventually be the sheriff. And
here I was stuck in high school.
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So there, it was very frustrating to me.
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But even though I
graduated just barely from
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high school, the next week I
started Polk Community College
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part-time in their police
science program because even
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though it wasn’t cool to
have a college education,
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then I was visiting for the
future and I thought, heck,
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if the college is offering a police
science program, it must be important.
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So I signed up and I started
down the path of college
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at Polk Community.
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Now that was a shock to me.
And let me tell you why.
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In high school we had to tuck
our shirt in and wear a belt
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and we had to behave. There
was no low riding pants,
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there was no body shirts.
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You had to like follow the rules.
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My very first class when I walked
in at Polk Community College
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was a sociology class and
their sat a guy in cutoff
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shorts. Okay, short, short,
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no shirt, no shoes with a
monkey sitting on his shoulder.
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He was in class. And I looked
at that and thought, wow,
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have I graduated <laugh>? I mean,
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we would not even allowed him to walk
on a high school campus looking like
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that. And here I was in class with him.
So anyway, make a long story short,
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I did my first two years part-time
at Polk Community College and that’s
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where I got my start.
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The professors truly energized
me and for the first time in
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my academic life, the
classes that I was taking,
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for the most part I had some math and
earth sciences that I scratched my head
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over. But for the most part,
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the classes that I was taking was
directly related and teaching me things
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in the profession that I wanted to go in.
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And I loved Polk Community College.
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That’s awesome. Well,
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you touched a little bit about like what
it was like to be on campus walking in
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from a high school student to
then like this college community.
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Can you tell us a little bit about
what it was like on campus at the time?
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Were there student events? Was there
a lot of like social things happening?
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You know, there really was,
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I was not involved in them because
I was engaged to be married
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to my high school sweetheart. Oh. And we
went to separate high schools together.
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I tell everyone, I’m from
Lakeland, she’s from Auburndale.
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Do y’all know why I married
an Auburndale girl? Why?
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Cause the Lakeland girls knew
- <laugh> nice. My wife says,
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don’t say that <laugh>. But I, I cut up,
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I met my high school sweetheart
working for the ambulance service in
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Winter Haven. And she was a cheerleader
and the president of the Sevens,
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which was the civic club in
Auburndale. And I thought, golly,
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this lady is so much more intelligent
than me if I can convince her to marry
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me, what a awesome
opportunity. I’m from Lakeland,
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my family’s from Lakeland. She’s from
the central and east side of the county.
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Her family is from the central
and east side of the Cam County.
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That’s perfect for politics. Oh, now
I got somebody who knows someone,
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everybody, every place.
So when I run for sheriff.
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But in any event that’s,
that’s how it all started.
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And, and here we are today.
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What was it like working on the
ambulance and going to school?
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How did you juggle that?
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Cuz a lot of our students are doing
the same thing with a job and going to.
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Class. Sure. It’s tough. It, it’s
really tough because, cause uh,
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on in July the sheriff then hired me.
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And so I was working a midnight
shift and a rotation to a day
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shift and an evening shift.
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And the classes weren’t as
forgiving as they are today.
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They had night classes and
day classes and that was it.
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And you had to figure it out.
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And you didn’t always have a day
class to back up a night class.
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You had a ton of online
class options too, right?
00:07:02.950 –> 00:07:06.840
Zero <laugh>. Yeah. What what
online? There was no online,
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but Polk Community College worked really,
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really hard with this new
workforce coming in to,
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to help us. And all of a sudden we
had classes that mirrored themselves.
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So if you went to a night class
and got moved to the night shift,
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then there was a day class
that you could go to as well.
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Usually by the same professor,
at least the same topic. So that,
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so that you could not lose
your, your class time.
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Polk Community College then as now was
very economical when I first started,
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my dad was a working man.
He didn’t have much money.
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I was so poor I couldn’t
even pay attention.
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And he paid for my first two or three
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college classes.
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And then I figured out that there
was this thing called Law Enforcement
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Education Program leap from the
federal government that that would
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provide funding if you worked
in the criminal justice system
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after your class. And ultimately
your degree was complete.
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So if it weren’t for Polk Community
College and its affordability,
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I couldn’t have gone to college.
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And I will be forever grateful
for now. Polk State College,
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which was then Polk Community College.
And before that Polk Junior College,
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I will be forever grateful for the
opportunities that college gave me
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and the seeds it planted for the future.
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There is a photo that is going
around of you when you were like a,
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a little toddler and you
have a little badge on.
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So did you always envision being a
sheriff? Was that always sort of,
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or law enforcement?
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Sure. I, I, I think it’s
a God thing. I believe
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in, I have a strong faith in
Jesus Christ and, and God.
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And I believe that that
was my mission, Phil.
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There’s never been a time in my life
that I didn’t want to work in law
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enforcement. And ultimately
I wanted to be the sheriff.
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I can remember telling one of the guys
that I worked with on the ambulance
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when I was a kid in high school,
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he used to be a dispatcher
for the sheriff’s office.
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And I remember distinctly
on one occasion I picked up
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the, the radio in the ambulance,
the microphone, and said,
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car one ten fifty one,
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we were going to a call and he
looked at me and said, you know,
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only the sheriff gets to say car
one outside in the real world.
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This is ambulance one
in this small company.
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And I told him one day I’ll be saying
Car one cuz I’m gonna be the sheriff.
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And that was in high school. So truly, I,
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I believe this is my mission,
Phil. I love helping people.
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I love making a positive difference.
I love keeping people safe.
00:10:01.070 –> 00:10:03.800
I really like helping those
that are less fortunate,
00:10:04.070 –> 00:10:08.400
that really want to do well, but they
need direction and they need help.
00:10:08.860 –> 00:10:13.240
And I get to do that every day
through my deputies. You know,
00:10:13.240 –> 00:10:16.680
I get a great deal of credit
because I’m the sheriff,
00:10:18.140 –> 00:10:22.960
but all of my successes are
directly related to someone else.
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My parents, my wife today,
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the wonderful men and women here at the
sheriff’s office that deliver customer
00:10:30.640 –> 00:10:34.760
service with a sense of urgency, who
have that passion in their heart.
00:10:35.790 –> 00:10:40.040
I tell folks, I get far more
credit than I deserve. I coach,
00:10:40.190 –> 00:10:41.240
I coach every day.
00:10:41.660 –> 00:10:45.760
But it’s the wonderful men and women
here at the sheriff’s office that deliver
00:10:45.760 –> 00:10:48.880
that customer service and help
those people in time of need.
00:10:49.490 –> 00:10:54.000
So we just all work together because
we love this community and we love the
00:10:54.000 –> 00:10:54.920
people in this community.
00:10:56.190 –> 00:10:57.360
That’s awesome.
00:10:57.490 –> 00:11:02.120
So can you share with us how the sheriff’s
office has transformed over the last
00:11:02.120 –> 00:11:02.953
five decades?
00:11:03.190 –> 00:11:06.520
When I started to work for the
sheriff’s office, to give you an idea,
00:11:07.370 –> 00:11:09.160
we did not have employee numbers.
00:11:10.420 –> 00:11:13.640
And about a year into my employment,
00:11:14.830 –> 00:11:19.360
they assigned us employee
numbers. So understand,
00:11:19.360 –> 00:11:21.040
I had one year seniority,
00:11:22.310 –> 00:11:24.380
my employee number was 61.
00:11:25.950 –> 00:11:30.590
There were probably at the time a hundred
employees at the sheriff’s office.
00:11:31.590 –> 00:11:35.950
Today there’s almost 2000 employees
at the sheriff’s office. Wow.
00:11:36.210 –> 00:11:39.270
And our numbers are in the 98 hundreds.
00:11:39.960 –> 00:11:41.510
So my number’s 61,
00:11:41.970 –> 00:11:46.190
the new deputies are
probably 98, 80, 98 70.
00:11:48.070 –> 00:11:52.760
I’ve seen us go from a sleepy little
small country sheriff’s office
00:11:54.170 –> 00:11:59.140
to the most professional law
enforcement organization in this nation.
00:11:59.750 –> 00:12:02.100
We have 10 professional accreditations.
00:12:03.350 –> 00:12:08.300
We are recognized all over this
nation for our professionalism.
00:12:09.280 –> 00:12:13.540
And I have got to be a
part of that. I’ve got to,
00:12:14.170 –> 00:12:19.020
I’ve had the opportunity to
live that as we grew from a
00:12:19.020 –> 00:12:23.340
small country sheriff’s office
to the most professional
00:12:23.920 –> 00:12:28.540
law enforcement agency in this
entire nation. So for that, I’m,
00:12:28.540 –> 00:12:29.270
I’m grateful.
00:12:29.270 –> 00:12:33.820
So I’ve seen it from
very small to very large.
00:12:34.320 –> 00:12:37.980
Now they did a good job back in
the day, but back in the day,
00:12:37.980 –> 00:12:40.140
law enforcement wasn’t like it is today.
00:12:40.380 –> 00:12:43.700
There weren’t the expectations
on law enforcement officers,
00:12:44.360 –> 00:12:47.780
but there wasn’t the accountability,
there wasn’t the responsibility.
00:12:48.520 –> 00:12:53.300
And today it’s the entirely
different organization.
00:12:53.730 –> 00:12:56.340
It’s entirely different today,
00:12:56.340 –> 00:13:00.820
the way we deliver police services as
a way as compared to the way we did it
00:13:01.120 –> 00:13:02.260
way back in the day.
00:13:02.700 –> 00:13:06.100
Seems like it’s, I mean
it’s hard to compare,
00:13:06.100 –> 00:13:10.180
but it seems like it’s a lot more
stressful now too with all of the media,
00:13:10.210 –> 00:13:12.540
social media and
regulations and everything.
00:13:13.230 –> 00:13:16.620
So seeing all the stress that
you guys are under at all times,
00:13:17.040 –> 00:13:18.540
how do you decompress?
00:13:18.540 –> 00:13:21.980
What do you do to kind of like back
away from your job for a minute?
00:13:21.980 –> 00:13:25.060
Sure. First, it’s important
to say, you’re right. This,
00:13:25.060 –> 00:13:28.660
this is a lot more violent
society today than it used to be.
00:13:29.400 –> 00:13:30.540
And the reason for that,
00:13:30.540 –> 00:13:35.180
people had respect for
each other more often
00:13:35.880 –> 00:13:40.700
and respect for law
enforcement than as compared
00:13:40.700 –> 00:13:41.510
to today.
00:13:41.510 –> 00:13:46.060
So we used to be able to tell
someone you’re under arrest,
00:13:46.060 –> 00:13:47.700
get in the car, and they
would get in the car.
00:13:48.730 –> 00:13:52.700
Very rarely did we have to fight with
someone to get them into the car.
00:13:52.700 –> 00:13:54.940
And that’s not necessarily true today.
00:13:54.940 –> 00:13:58.300
People want to do what they want when
they want and the fact that they’re
00:13:58.300 –> 00:13:59.860
violating the law makes no difference.
00:14:01.110 –> 00:14:05.540
So the stress is greater and
the accountability is greater.
00:14:05.540 –> 00:14:09.380
You think about all of the pressure
that we’re under with social media
00:14:10.160 –> 00:14:13.580
and with national media
saying ugly things. You know,
00:14:13.580 –> 00:14:18.060
we had this woke-ism defund the
police and all of that sort of thing.
00:14:18.060 –> 00:14:19.780
Now it didn’t come to our community,
00:14:20.720 –> 00:14:25.180
our local community who
we love and loves us back.
00:14:26.410 –> 00:14:31.220
Were bringing signs to put in our
district stations and our police stations.
00:14:31.220 –> 00:14:33.740
And we love law enforcement. We love you.
00:14:33.930 –> 00:14:38.500
They were bringing us food to the
stations. They were buying deputies meals.
00:14:40.030 –> 00:14:44.660
So while we saw that national
agenda that it didn’t come here.
00:14:44.660 –> 00:14:49.660
And I’m grateful for the wonderful
people of this community and our
00:14:49.660 –> 00:14:53.600
college teaches wonderful
people in our community.
00:14:54.540 –> 00:14:56.560
But it is a stressful job. And my,
00:14:56.890 –> 00:14:59.920
my primary hobby is photography.
00:15:00.310 –> 00:15:02.640
I love landscape and nature photography.
00:15:02.640 –> 00:15:07.080
Anytime I can be on the water or
out in the woods with my camera
00:15:07.740 –> 00:15:08.920
photographing nature,
00:15:09.690 –> 00:15:13.520
it is a wonderful day
because you can’t focus
00:15:14.690 –> 00:15:18.560
on taking a a, what I call creating art.
00:15:18.870 –> 00:15:23.600
It’s not just taking a picture. It’s
not just snapping the camera lens.
00:15:23.900 –> 00:15:28.000
But it, it is, it is the
composure of the film.
00:15:29.540 –> 00:15:33.760
And uh, uh, see I’m, I’m dating
myself. It’s not the film anymore,
00:15:33.760 –> 00:15:38.400
it’s the digital age. But I took
photographs with film too. But, well,
00:15:38.400 –> 00:15:43.280
you can’t compose your shots set and
wait on the little birds or animals
00:15:43.280 –> 00:15:46.920
you wanna photograph and be
churning work at the same time.
00:15:46.930 –> 00:15:49.800
So nature and wildlife photography,
00:15:50.430 –> 00:15:52.800
that’s my primary hobby. Beautiful.
00:15:53.070 –> 00:15:56.200
Really cool. Is this some
of your work here on the.
00:15:56.200 –> 00:15:57.440
Wall? This is some of my.
00:15:57.440 –> 00:15:59.120
Work. Okay. Just so listeners know,
00:15:59.120 –> 00:16:02.560
we are in the conference room at the
sheriff’s office and we have these
00:16:02.560 –> 00:16:04.960
beautiful photos on the wall.
So really cool. Awesome.
00:16:05.220 –> 00:16:07.480
And it saves the taxpayers money because.
00:16:07.720 –> 00:16:08.680
<Laugh> love it.
00:16:09.470 –> 00:16:10.360
Love to play the.
00:16:10.360 –> 00:16:12.160
Artist. I give them the art and.
00:16:12.160 –> 00:16:13.360
Then That’s wonderful. It’s.
00:16:13.360 –> 00:16:14.193
No cost.
00:16:14.240 –> 00:16:17.000
<Laugh>. So Sheriff Judd,
will you share with us,
00:16:17.000 –> 00:16:18.560
and you’ve kind of
touched on this already,
00:16:18.560 –> 00:16:22.280
but how did Polk State give you the
foundation to build your education and
00:16:22.280 –> 00:16:23.113
career?
00:16:23.270 –> 00:16:24.100
Sure.
00:16:24.100 –> 00:16:28.600
The interesting thing about
Polk State College now as then
00:16:29.290 –> 00:16:34.200
it focuses on what’s the needs
and the desires of the community.
00:16:35.990 –> 00:16:38.580
Do we need nurses? There was a,
00:16:38.850 –> 00:16:43.060
a wonderful nursing program way back
in the day and it’s still a wonderful
00:16:43.060 –> 00:16:47.340
nursing program today. So what’s
the needs of the community?
00:16:48.010 –> 00:16:51.340
What are the needs of the community
that needs a college education?
00:16:52.230 –> 00:16:54.260
So they had a police science program.
00:16:55.520 –> 00:16:57.940
And so what we found,
00:16:58.240 –> 00:17:03.210
the community college
fits the niche or the
00:17:03.210 –> 00:17:07.330
state college as we know it now
fits the niche of how can we
00:17:07.640 –> 00:17:10.050
create higher education,
00:17:11.230 –> 00:17:15.650
put more tools on people’s
tool belts that are important
00:17:16.260 –> 00:17:20.530
in this community. And that’s
what Polk State College does.
00:17:22.520 –> 00:17:25.050
What motivated you to
continue on a higher,
00:17:25.050 –> 00:17:27.010
higher levels of education and training?
00:17:27.560 –> 00:17:31.410
I didn’t want anyone to have more
education than me in this discipline.
00:17:32.840 –> 00:17:36.530
I wanted to be one of the few
00:17:37.960 –> 00:17:42.930
that was able to have a bachelor’s
and a master’s degree and work in
00:17:42.930 –> 00:17:46.290
law enforcement. Cause back
in the day, unlike today,
00:17:47.280 –> 00:17:52.080
that was a rare event. So once again,
00:17:52.080 –> 00:17:53.520
there was federal money available.
00:17:53.530 –> 00:17:57.360
So when I completed my time at Polk
Community College, we had three choices.
00:17:58.280 –> 00:18:01.600
There was a, there was a
grant program that allowed,
00:18:01.600 –> 00:18:06.560
allowed us to go to the University
of South Florida or to Rollins
00:18:06.560 –> 00:18:08.040
College in Winter Park,
00:18:09.450 –> 00:18:12.120
or to St. Leo,
00:18:13.360 –> 00:18:16.600
which is in, uh, just
outside of Dade City.
00:18:18.320 –> 00:18:22.920
Rawlands College is a very
elite, upscale private school.
00:18:22.920 –> 00:18:24.480
It’s the furthest drive.
00:18:25.530 –> 00:18:28.240
So while the few of my colleagues,
00:18:28.360 –> 00:18:32.480
for the most part they were going
to usf or they were going to St.
00:18:32.480 –> 00:18:34.720
Leo cause it was closer, I said,
00:18:34.720 –> 00:18:38.960
I want to go to the most prestigious
elite school. So I made the longest drive.
00:18:41.330 –> 00:18:45.500
I completed my undergraduate with a 12.0,
00:18:45.500 –> 00:18:49.740
which instead of a four point scale,
they had a 12 point ago, I’m sorry,
00:18:49.740 –> 00:18:52.940
I had an 11 2, 6 3 in my undergraduate.
00:18:53.050 –> 00:18:55.260
I stumbled in one class and got a B.
00:18:56.200 –> 00:18:58.700
And then when I went on
to do my master’s work,
00:18:59.050 –> 00:19:03.540
I had a 12 zero straight
a’s that time. But I wanted,
00:19:04.490 –> 00:19:08.060
I wanted to better myself.
00:19:08.720 –> 00:19:11.580
And I was smart enough as a kid to go,
00:19:12.170 –> 00:19:16.780
I am getting to go to a
college that the yearly
00:19:17.450 –> 00:19:22.260
cost to attend here is
double or triple my salary.
00:19:22.470 –> 00:19:27.420
There’s no way in God’s green earth that
my family could have ever afforded to
00:19:27.420 –> 00:19:30.620
send me there. And my mother
and father were wonderful,
00:19:30.620 –> 00:19:35.460
hardworking Christian people and they
gave me the foundation that allowed me to
00:19:35.460 –> 00:19:38.820
be successful. But economically,
I could have not done that.
00:19:39.520 –> 00:19:44.490
That’s why when I hear people beat up the
federal government, is it perfect? No.
00:19:44.490 –> 00:19:49.130
Is it the best in the world? Yes. Did
they give me the opportunity? Yes.
00:19:49.780 –> 00:19:51.930
So it took me like nine years,
00:19:51.930 –> 00:19:56.890
almost 10 years to get a master’s
degree because I was going nights and
00:19:56.890 –> 00:19:59.370
weekends and back in that day,
00:20:00.530 –> 00:20:05.490
occasionally I would run into a supervisor
that would intentionally schedule me
00:20:05.600 –> 00:20:10.130
when I was supposed to be in
class because he, at the time, he,
00:20:10.130 –> 00:20:13.450
we didn’t have female supervisors
in law enforcement then.
00:20:13.960 –> 00:20:17.970
Didn’t want me to have a college degree
cuz I was one of the college kids.
00:20:18.630 –> 00:20:22.730
But I persevered just
like everyone else did.
00:20:23.070 –> 00:20:26.490
But there were very few of
- But I got my first reward.
00:20:26.880 –> 00:20:29.890
I finished school like in December.
00:20:30.480 –> 00:20:32.210
I didn’t walk until May,
00:20:32.710 –> 00:20:37.330
but I finished school in December and
Florida Southern hired me to teach
00:20:37.940 –> 00:20:41.650
in their criminal justice
program in January. Wow.
00:20:41.910 –> 00:20:46.250
And it was because I had my
master’s degree. Wow. So I,
00:20:46.320 –> 00:20:48.880
I started teaching the term that I,
00:20:48.980 –> 00:20:52.760
the term after I finished
at Rollins and I,
00:20:52.760 –> 00:20:57.720
and I taught part-time for the
next 23 years at Florida Southern
00:20:58.530 –> 00:21:01.720
or the University of South
Florida. Some combination of those.
00:21:03.810 –> 00:21:04.980
I saw the need.
00:21:06.520 –> 00:21:08.960
And so that grant program,
00:21:08.960 –> 00:21:13.840
government program went away and I
convinced one of the sheriffs when I was
00:21:13.840 –> 00:21:17.520
in the command structure
for us to pay for college.
00:21:19.050 –> 00:21:23.540
So the seed that was planted
at Polk State College in
00:21:23.820 –> 00:21:24.653
1972,
00:21:26.100 –> 00:21:30.910
that grew because of the federal
grant. And I say a grant,
00:21:31.020 –> 00:21:35.790
I had to work two years in the criminal
justice system at the conclusion
00:21:36.200 –> 00:21:39.510
to pay it, pay back the loans.
That’s how you paid them back.
00:21:41.220 –> 00:21:45.790
That allowed me to teach my
teaching allowed me to say, Hey,
00:21:45.790 –> 00:21:50.150
we need to have more people do this.
00:21:50.150 –> 00:21:54.190
I was in the command staff
cuz I did well on the test.
00:21:54.780 –> 00:21:56.590
I did well in the promotion process.
00:21:56.760 –> 00:22:01.470
So now I have been able
to create an environment
00:22:01.470 –> 00:22:04.630
whereby I taught the sheriff
in Japan for college education.
00:22:05.530 –> 00:22:08.750
And to this day, when you come
to work for the sheriff’s office,
00:22:09.200 –> 00:22:13.550
we pay a full ride at state
rates for your associates,
00:22:13.620 –> 00:22:15.870
your bachelor’s and your master’s degree.
00:22:16.490 –> 00:22:16.910
Wow.
00:22:16.910 –> 00:22:18.910
That’s awesome. Isn’t
that remarkable? It is.
00:22:19.050 –> 00:22:23.590
And then we pay you a stipend to have
that college degree. And oh, by the way,
00:22:23.590 –> 00:22:26.990
you can’t be a sergeant or a
lieutenant without a bachelor’s degree.
00:22:27.480 –> 00:22:30.470
We won’t allow you to be a captain,
00:22:30.620 –> 00:22:33.550
a major or a chief here
without a master’s degree.
00:22:34.430 –> 00:22:38.880
Does it make you smarter than the
person with a high school education? No.
00:22:39.070 –> 00:22:43.480
Does it provide a lot more tools
on your belt to make better
00:22:43.540 –> 00:22:47.880
administrative decisions
and operational decisions?
00:22:49.850 –> 00:22:54.720
So that’s one more of those
seeds that started at Polk State
00:22:54.720 –> 00:22:58.480
College and today, our folks,
00:22:58.980 –> 00:23:01.520
the overwhelming majority,
00:23:01.520 –> 00:23:04.760
I think we’re well over
50% of our organization
00:23:06.150 –> 00:23:08.450
are either degreed or in college.
00:23:08.910 –> 00:23:10.250
Wow. That’s awesome.
00:23:10.250 –> 00:23:11.850
That’s exciting. Isn’t that remarkable?
00:23:11.850 –> 00:23:12.683
Yeah.
00:23:13.310 –> 00:23:16.490
And this is not an industry
that historically has Right.
00:23:16.790 –> 00:23:19.290
Has encouraged education.
00:23:20.360 –> 00:23:22.990
So is your wife still smarter than you?
00:23:23.450 –> 00:23:25.270
Yes, she’s much smarter than me.
00:23:25.510 –> 00:23:26.343
<Laugh>.
00:23:26.740 –> 00:23:31.350
I, I, I married up and, and
do you know last September,
00:23:31.380 –> 00:23:34.750
well, last July I worked for
the sheriff’s office. 50 years.
00:23:35.420 –> 00:23:38.790
I like to think I’m not even
50 years old, but hey, I,
00:23:38.810 –> 00:23:40.510
you gotta go with what you got.
00:23:41.650 –> 00:23:46.360
And my wife married me
on September 16th in 72,
00:23:46.360 –> 00:23:50.000
my high school sweetheart, we were
engaged in high school. How crazy is that?
00:23:50.000 –> 00:23:50.400
That’s.
00:23:50.400 –> 00:23:50.860
Crazy.
00:23:50.860 –> 00:23:55.680
Wow. And we have been married for 50
years last September. And you know, she,
00:23:55.820 –> 00:24:00.640
she is my life, I I love her a little
more today than I did yesterday,
00:24:00.640 –> 00:24:05.040
than I did the day before. Oh. And that’s
been true for the last 50 years. So,
00:24:05.370 –> 00:24:08.120
so it’s, and there’s,
00:24:08.130 –> 00:24:12.840
there’s not an hour of the day I
don’t think about how wonderful
00:24:12.840 –> 00:24:16.240
she is and how lucky I am
that she agreed to marry me.
00:24:16.380 –> 00:24:19.880
I’m even luckier that she stayed
with me after she learned, Hey,
00:24:19.880 –> 00:24:22.400
this guy is OCD about everything. <laugh>.
00:24:24.680 –> 00:24:27.680
Well, that’s so sweet. So
Sheriff, you, you know,
00:24:27.680 –> 00:24:30.560
you’ve mentioned that Polk State
planted a seed in your life,
00:24:30.560 –> 00:24:34.080
but now you’ve come back and you’ve
planted so many seeds at the college.
00:24:34.090 –> 00:24:38.000
So can you talk us through a little bit
about the development of the Institute
00:24:38.000 –> 00:24:41.400
of Public Safety and now we have
our National Innovation Academy?
00:24:41.790 –> 00:24:44.440
Sure. As, uh, once,
00:24:44.750 –> 00:24:48.040
once people have their bachelor’s
and their master’s degrees here,
00:24:48.700 –> 00:24:52.840
and they are a lieutenant, we put
’em through Certified Public Manager,
00:24:53.760 –> 00:24:58.160
which is a remarkable course
put on by Florida State
00:24:58.160 –> 00:25:01.800
University. Why the University of
Florida? The Gators didn’t do that.
00:25:01.800 –> 00:25:06.600
I don’t know, but, but Florida
State does remarkable class. And,
00:25:06.600 –> 00:25:10.640
and in addition to that, we send
them to finishing schools. There’s,
00:25:11.290 –> 00:25:15.080
uh, Southern Police Institute,
Northwestern and the FBI Academy,
00:25:15.260 –> 00:25:20.080
all outstanding police academies,
what I call finishing schools.
00:25:21.500 –> 00:25:24.760
But they teach foundational information.
00:25:25.750 –> 00:25:28.600
I wanted one that was STEM based
00:25:30.250 –> 00:25:35.110
and as a result, science,
technology, engineering and math.
00:25:35.680 –> 00:25:39.040
So now we have an advanced class,
00:25:39.790 –> 00:25:41.800
a national program, the NIA,
00:25:42.570 –> 00:25:45.480
so that we’re teaching
visioning for the future.
00:25:46.730 –> 00:25:48.480
We expect you to have the,
00:25:48.480 –> 00:25:52.560
the tools to manage and lead today,
00:25:53.430 –> 00:25:56.210
but what are we gonna do with
technology in the future?
00:25:56.210 –> 00:26:00.730
How are we gonna deliver better
customer service with a sense of urgency
00:26:00.950 –> 00:26:05.650
and keep people safer using
technology and thinking
00:26:05.650 –> 00:26:10.650
outside the box? And that’s what this
new program is. We wouldn’t have it,
00:26:10.760 –> 00:26:12.730
it’s always been a dream of mine.
00:26:14.260 –> 00:26:17.090
We wouldn’t have it without our president.
00:26:17.520 –> 00:26:21.650
Angela Falconetti and her team,
they made it all happen.
00:26:21.780 –> 00:26:23.810
So it’s one more dream come true.
00:26:24.790 –> 00:26:26.850
And the building we have over here,
00:26:28.640 –> 00:26:31.250
I asked a previous
president, I said, look,
00:26:31.890 –> 00:26:36.890
we’ve got the first
accredited police academy
00:26:38.100 –> 00:26:42.330
in the nation attached to a community
college at the time. The first one,
00:26:43.770 –> 00:26:48.440
we need a professional
building. And she said,
00:26:48.440 –> 00:26:49.440
Grady, she said, look,
00:26:49.440 –> 00:26:53.600
I’ve got lots of
priorities for the college,
00:26:54.180 –> 00:26:57.080
but I support that if
you can get the funding,
00:26:57.630 –> 00:27:00.040
I can’t derail other priorities,
00:27:00.520 –> 00:27:05.190
economic priorities at the
college, but I fully support that.
00:27:06.000 –> 00:27:10.310
So I met with JD Alexander, who
was in the Senate at the time,
00:27:10.930 –> 00:27:13.710
and I told him what we
wanted to do. I said,
00:27:13.710 –> 00:27:18.030
the county commission has agreed to give
us 10 acres to put the campus there.
00:27:19.480 –> 00:27:21.230
We need the money, the state money.
00:27:22.960 –> 00:27:25.660
And then JD said,
00:27:26.480 –> 00:27:28.970
I’ll get you the seed
money, the start money.
00:27:29.790 –> 00:27:34.770
And then Seth McGill was in the
house in charge of finances there.
00:27:34.770 –> 00:27:37.490
He said, Seth will finish
it up after I turn out.
00:27:38.460 –> 00:27:43.050
So we successfully lobbied
for this beautiful police
00:27:43.210 –> 00:27:45.850
academy. And not only that,
00:27:46.180 –> 00:27:50.570
we teach our paramedics there
and we train there. So it’s,
00:27:51.600 –> 00:27:55.850
what we have is cutting edge facilities,
00:27:55.980 –> 00:28:00.650
cutting edge training,
cutting edge education.
00:28:00.910 –> 00:28:03.370
And it’s at our Polk State College.
00:28:04.500 –> 00:28:06.410
It is really cool over there too.
00:28:06.410 –> 00:28:11.370
All of the interesting how the walls
move and you can change the scenarios and
00:28:11.370 –> 00:28:15.730
you have the new technology where
they can like report back. And, um,
00:28:15.880 –> 00:28:19.530
I was there for the groundbreaking and
I actually teared up when you guys did
00:28:19.530 –> 00:28:21.450
the groundbreaking over
there. It was a beautiful.
00:28:21.520 –> 00:28:22.970
It’s pretty exciting, isn’t it?
00:28:22.970 –> 00:28:24.250
It was, it was a great day.
00:28:24.390 –> 00:28:28.570
You know, and we are truly the envy
of the nation. There’s very few,
00:28:28.570 –> 00:28:30.890
there are some, there’s very few
00:28:32.490 –> 00:28:37.090
locations in the nation that has
a training facility as wonderful
00:28:37.220 –> 00:28:38.053
as ours.
00:28:38.990 –> 00:28:41.330
Wow. That’s impressive.
I love that building.
00:28:42.500 –> 00:28:44.730
So what do you consider some
of your greatest achievements?
00:28:46.050 –> 00:28:50.900
I think my greatest achievement
is, is marrying my wife.
00:28:51.170 –> 00:28:53.900
Well, my, my greatest
achievement is being a Christian,
00:28:55.330 –> 00:28:59.580
marrying my wife, my
two wonderful sons to,
00:28:59.580 –> 00:29:02.500
to have the opportunity to
serve the people of Polk County.
00:29:02.930 –> 00:29:05.500
I work for them and <affirmative>. And,
00:29:06.800 –> 00:29:10.980
and along the way we’ve talked
about bringing education here
00:29:11.800 –> 00:29:13.700
and growing the organization.
00:29:16.090 –> 00:29:20.660
I have been a part of
hiring what I call the
00:29:20.660 –> 00:29:25.540
brightest and the best in our business
here at the sheriff’s office along the
00:29:25.680 –> 00:29:26.513
way.
00:29:27.920 –> 00:29:31.660
And watching this community
grow the right way.
00:29:31.970 –> 00:29:35.260
This is a safe community
and people feel safe.
00:29:36.040 –> 00:29:38.340
And we don’t put up
with any nonsense here.
00:29:39.200 –> 00:29:43.940
And we have an environment
where people can send their
00:29:44.100 –> 00:29:45.700
children out to play in the front yard.
00:29:46.370 –> 00:29:51.180
They can walk their dog and
their children around a lake at
00:29:51.180 –> 00:29:54.380
some of our beautiful lakes in the
cities and the, and the county.
00:29:54.640 –> 00:29:55.540
And they’re safe.
00:29:55.930 –> 00:29:56.860
Sons. The alligators.
00:29:57.210 –> 00:30:01.500
Yeah. Well the, the alligators, you
know, gotta eat too, right? <laugh>?
00:30:01.570 –> 00:30:05.340
That’s a joke. That’s a joke.
Everybody <laugh>. But yeah,
00:30:05.340 –> 00:30:06.820
you gotta watch out for the alligators.
00:30:06.920 –> 00:30:10.660
But I haven’t figured out a way how
to legally put them in jail yet. Yeah,
00:30:10.980 –> 00:30:15.460
<laugh>. So the, the
bottom line is, you know,
00:30:16.440 –> 00:30:18.660
I’m just grateful that that,
00:30:18.690 –> 00:30:22.380
that I’ve been a part
of a lot of of growth.
00:30:22.890 –> 00:30:26.700
I do have to tell you that my appointment
to the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas
00:30:26.700 –> 00:30:29.580
Commission where we invest,
00:30:29.640 –> 00:30:33.820
are investigating that horrible
tragedy of monumental proportions
00:30:34.830 –> 00:30:37.900
of that evil person whose name
I don’t even like to speak,
00:30:39.150 –> 00:30:42.180
is one of the most meaningful
things that I’ve ever done.
00:30:42.180 –> 00:30:46.700
Because we have been
responsible for meaningful
00:30:47.130 –> 00:30:51.220
change that keeps people
safe and protects people.
00:30:52.160 –> 00:30:54.420
But at the end of my life,
00:30:54.420 –> 00:30:58.940
which I hope is when I’m
about 114 or so, maybe 115,
00:30:59.630 –> 00:31:01.780
if people said he worked hard,
00:31:03.140 –> 00:31:08.070
he held people accountable and
he loved this community and
00:31:08.070 –> 00:31:12.150
kept us safe, then that’s, what else can
you ask for? And he loved his family.
00:31:12.330 –> 00:31:12.800
Wow.
00:31:12.800 –> 00:31:14.670
Awesome. Well,
00:31:14.670 –> 00:31:17.550
what does it mean to you to be a
Polk State distinguished alumnus?
00:31:17.930 –> 00:31:22.190
You know, that was such an honor.
Whenever they awarded me that,
00:31:22.450 –> 00:31:24.790
and I, I felt undeserving of it.
00:31:24.910 –> 00:31:28.670
There are so many wonderful
people in this county that,
00:31:28.700 –> 00:31:32.470
that deserve it, I think
more than I did. I, I, I was,
00:31:32.930 –> 00:31:36.950
the fact that they recognized
me was, was a true honor. And,
00:31:36.950 –> 00:31:41.600
and I’m grateful for that. But I,
00:31:41.600 –> 00:31:46.480
I’m not, I’m not used to that.
I’m just kind of, I’ve got a,
00:31:46.830 –> 00:31:50.320
what I call a blue collar
hardworking mentality.
00:31:50.320 –> 00:31:54.440
Just go out and work hard every
day and good things happen.
00:31:54.780 –> 00:31:58.160
And that was a great thing that happened
when they did that for me and for which
00:31:58.160 –> 00:32:01.840
I’m appreciative, but I question
whether I deserve such a high honor. Oh.
00:32:02.160 –> 00:32:02.310
<Laugh>.
00:32:02.310 –> 00:32:05.320
Well, what advice do you have for
our students and even, you know,
00:32:05.320 –> 00:32:07.760
our alumni and graduates
that are out there today.
00:32:08.070 –> 00:32:12.970
Work hard, be loyal,
and good things happen.
00:32:14.400 –> 00:32:16.970
I what I’ve learned along the way, and,
00:32:16.990 –> 00:32:20.520
and maybe this is a little downer,
00:32:21.220 –> 00:32:22.200
but the truth is,
00:32:22.200 –> 00:32:26.790
if you show up on time to work sober
00:32:27.670 –> 00:32:30.380
and clean in your uniform,
00:32:31.090 –> 00:32:34.500
you’re ahead of about 75% of
the people in the workforce.
00:32:35.630 –> 00:32:39.240
If you work hard, if
you’re loyal to the boss,
00:32:40.090 –> 00:32:44.040
if you do what you’re told one day,
you’re do, you will do the telling.
00:32:44.630 –> 00:32:49.240
You’ll be the supervisor one day
you’ll own the company or a company
00:32:49.240 –> 00:32:54.200
like that. Hard work
replaces a lot of weaknesses.
00:32:54.200 –> 00:32:59.200
Now I can tell you if there’s
been a mistake made, I’ve made it.
00:32:59.340 –> 00:33:02.440
You name it, I’ve made it. But
I found out if you work hard,
00:33:03.260 –> 00:33:07.920
you will be successful. If you
care, you will be successful.
00:33:08.460 –> 00:33:13.040
But if you show up late and you badmouth
the boss and there’s no loyalty and you
00:33:13.040 –> 00:33:16.400
jump ship for a diamond
hour or a quarter an hour,
00:33:17.190 –> 00:33:19.200
you’ll just, you’re just your job.
00:33:19.200 –> 00:33:23.400
Jump the bottom rungs of
ladders your entire work life.
00:33:24.220 –> 00:33:25.560
But if you’ll dig in,
00:33:25.900 –> 00:33:30.560
you will gather the ability
to either go up the ladder
00:33:31.130 –> 00:33:35.200
of success for your boss or your industry,
00:33:36.250 –> 00:33:41.120
or you’ll gather the tools to
start your own business and be the
00:33:41.120 –> 00:33:43.120
big boss. But it,
00:33:43.170 –> 00:33:47.200
if you think that somebody else is
gonna work hard and give it to you,
00:33:47.550 –> 00:33:48.760
that’s not happening.
00:33:50.480 –> 00:33:51.650
Thanks Grady Judd,
00:33:51.650 –> 00:33:55.050
that is very good advice that I feel
like a lot of people just simple,
00:33:55.050 –> 00:33:59.490
simple things. Be early
on time. Be professional.
00:34:00.100 –> 00:34:01.290
Do the right thing. Do the.
00:34:01.290 –> 00:34:02.530
Right thing. Just do what’s right.
00:34:02.530 –> 00:34:06.330
Love it. Well, I do have one
really silly question for you.
00:34:06.330 –> 00:34:07.410
Oh, I’ll answer that.
00:34:07.440 –> 00:34:10.530
Okay. What is your
favorite Grady Judd merch?
00:34:11.080 –> 00:34:13.890
Well, I’d like to tell you that,
but I don’t know what a merch is.
00:34:13.910 –> 00:34:14.770
I’m old school.
00:34:15.010 –> 00:34:17.170
<Laugh>. She was going over
which word to use the whole time.
00:34:17.960 –> 00:34:22.410
Like a your bobblehead
the great age on pillows.
00:34:22.470 –> 00:34:23.370
Merchandise.
00:34:23.370 –> 00:34:24.203
Yeah.
00:34:24.290 –> 00:34:25.490
<Laugh>. You know, once again,
00:34:25.490 –> 00:34:29.290
that’s an example of your people being
a whole lot smarter than you are.
00:34:29.880 –> 00:34:32.850
I never would’ve thought any of that. I,
00:34:33.710 –> 00:34:37.810
I’m blessed that we’re, we raise money
for the charity with those absolutely.
00:34:37.810 –> 00:34:41.250
Those things that we give
away. But I gotta tell you,
00:34:41.250 –> 00:34:45.090
the bobbleheads pretty cool.
We have different renditions
of that. He’s so cool.
00:34:45.090 –> 00:34:45.923
But I’m really,
00:34:46.080 –> 00:34:49.570
I really like that sheriff on the shelf
where I can keep an eye on everybody.
00:34:49.810 –> 00:34:54.650
<laugh> nice. So it’s,
it’s fun to do the people.
00:34:54.800 –> 00:34:58.210
I had a lady who owns a business, uh,
00:34:58.880 –> 00:35:01.610
send a text to my wife
last night. She said,
00:35:01.610 –> 00:35:06.290
I made these Grady Judd cups
glasses with his quotes.
00:35:06.750 –> 00:35:11.090
And she said, I went to wherever she
went to the flea market or wherever.
00:35:11.350 –> 00:35:15.690
And she said, I sold out. I
needed more. So, so what an honor.
00:35:15.690 –> 00:35:16.810
But you know,
00:35:16.810 –> 00:35:21.370
every penny of that goes into
our charity so we can help those
00:35:21.610 –> 00:35:24.610
that are less fortunate. So,
absolutely. But I like it all.
00:35:24.610 –> 00:35:25.530
I think that’s beautiful.
It’s pretty cool.
00:35:25.530 –> 00:35:26.530
That’s it’s funny.
00:35:26.830 –> 00:35:27.970
Sam. Well thank you so.
00:35:27.970 –> 00:35:31.730
Much. Do you know, I, I just
appreciate the opportunity to, to,
00:35:32.580 –> 00:35:36.810
to break time with y’all today and to,
00:35:37.210 –> 00:35:39.920
to share with your
community on the podcast.
00:35:41.030 –> 00:35:44.760
I just want to end by saying I wish
God’s greatest blessings on everyone.
00:35:45.780 –> 00:35:50.640
And thank you for allowing me to
serve you and to work for you. It’s a,
00:35:50.640 –> 00:35:52.200
it’s an honor of a lifetime.
00:35:52.660 –> 00:35:57.520
How many people can say they wake up
every day and are living their dream?
00:35:57.870 –> 00:36:00.000
I wake up every day and
I’m living my dream.
00:36:00.380 –> 00:36:04.760
Wow. We thank you too, so much, so much
for keeping us safe. Yes. Thank you.
00:36:04.760 –> 00:36:06.960
Awesome. Well I think
that’s a wrap. Signing off.
00:36:07.650 –> 00:36:11.520
Another kinda free foam. I go
make, maybe want a tap toe,
00:36:11.530 –> 00:36:15.920
another kind free foam. I go
make maybe more tap toe. Oh.
00:36:17.530 –> 00:36:18.720
Oh yeah.