Social Media Posting Policy

Polk County Sheriff’s Phone# 863-298-6200

If in an emergency Dial 911

Thank you for following the Polk County Sheriff’s Office on our social media channels:

Our social media platforms help promote and disseminate information to the public about the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, events in Polk County, and crime prevention and crime solving initiatives. These are limited public forums for discussion with and among our followers/fans about the posted information. We welcome you to share your thoughts and feedback with us, and we ask that you please be responsible and courteous in your comments and replies.

Our rules of decorum are in place to encourage civil discourse and to prevent a poster from disrupting dialog in a way that prevents or impedes the accomplishment of the purpose of our social media sites.

Our purpose is to convey important public safety information, increase our ability to quickly, effectively, and efficiently reach Polk County and Central Florida residents to help us find criminal suspects, find missing and/or endangered persons, communicate public safety alerts, and further our mission of preventing, reducing, suppressing, displacing, solving, and fighting crime in Polk County.

These social media platforms are monitored and managed by the PCSO Office of Communications. They are considered limited public forums and therefore the following conditions apply:

• Postings and comments on these platforms constitute acceptance of these terms.
• In case of emergency, or if you need police assistance, dial 911 - Do NOT use social media to report crime. To report crime dial 863-298-6200.
• If you post information related to a crime on social media, you may be placing yourself in the position of becoming a witness to a crime and subject yourself to subpoena and in certain situations endangering yourself or others.
• “Friending” between Polk County Sheriff’s Office members and a citizen does not indicate endorsement of that person’s actions or comments.
• Comments posted by others on the Polk County Sheriff’s Office social media sites are not to be considered the opinion of the agency; nor does Polk County Sheriff’s Office endorse any third-party comments.
• The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reserves the right to remove and/or block anyone who posts inappropriate material as determined by the Office of Communications staff.
• The Polk County Sheriff’s Office does not allow posting of photos or videos by anyone other than members of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
• If you have photos or videos you’d like to share, contact the Office of Communications at 863-298-6904.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office welcomes a person’s right to express his/her opinion and encourages posters to keep comments related to the posted content. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reserves the right to hide or remove any comments or users that are:

• Inappropriate or offensive
• Defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or violate the legal rights of others, include racism, hatred, slander, threats, obscenity, violence, vulgarity

Constitute trolling (deliberately provoking others or maliciously harassing, attacking, or cyberbullying others)

• Spam or disruptively repetitive content
• Advertise
• Could harm the safety or well-being of one of our employees, including personal attacks
• Are off-topic or not related to the content within the post, or any content posted on the platform
• Have personal information about another person or that violate a person’s privacy; include copyrighted material that belongs to another person
• Contain links to websites

Users may be restricted from accessing our social media platforms if they repeatedly and consistently violate this policy. To contact the PCSO Office of Communications about our social media channels, call 863-298-6904, or email PIOs@polksheriff.org.