News and Investigations

On Monday, November 25, 2019, PCSO detectives arrested 31-year-old Dennis Jones, Jr., for 22 counts public servant falsifying official records (F-3), two counts forgery (F-3), and two counts uttering false instrument (F-3). He was booked into the Polk County Jail, and is being held on $260,000 bond ($10,000 per charge).

Jones was originally arrested on September 17, 2019, for two counts public servant falsifying official records (F-3), one count forgery (F-3), and one count uttering false instrument (F-3), for falsifying two waivers of prosecution in his capacity as a PCSO detective. He resigned immediately upon his arrest.
 
Detectives evaluated every case assigned to Jones during his tenure as a detective, and found 22 more reports that contained falsified documents created by him. His actions did not result in any unlawful arrests, nor in a failure to arrest a suspect. The common denominator in the 22 reports was his effort to take shortcuts and reduce his workload.

PCSO detectives obtained a warrant for Jones' arrest, and he was taken into custody without incident. He will have a first appearance hearing at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon.

"We are extremely disappointed in - and embarrassed by - Jones' lazy, deceitful conduct as a sworn law enforcement officer. He betrayed the trust of the men and women with whom he worked, and the public he was entrusted to serve. We want the community to know that we will always hold those who betray the public's trust accountable, and that it's our intention he is convicted and sent to state prison." - Grady Judd, Sheriff