TALLHASSEE, Fla. — When a unadorned man in southwestern Florida lately raised a ruckus exterior his home and threatened a deputy with a kitchen knife, the SWAT workforce swooped in and apprehended him.
Soon afterward, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno stood on the person’s driveway in fight gear for a news convention whereas the suspect went to the jailhouse that the sheriff likes to name the “Marceno Motel.”
“He’s an oxygen-stealer and a scumbag, and I’m glad he’s outta here,” Marceno instructed reporters. “I’m proud to say that in this county if you present deadly physical force … we meet you with deadly force every time, and we win. It’s pretty clean, pretty quick.”
The Sunshine State has turn into internationally infamous for the oddball miscreants who populate its police blotters and native news stories — recognized collectively as Florida Man. There are murders and mayhem, like anyplace else, after which there are the only-in-Florida incidents like the person charged with assault with a lethal weapon for throwing an alligator by means of a Wendy’s drive-thru window in Palm Beach County in 2015.
But an equally eccentric forged of hard-boiled sheriffs make a profession of going after these guys. Florida Man, meet Florida Sheriff.
All however one in every of Florida’s 67 counties have an elected sheriff, and so they wield huge affect partly as a result of they’re usually the one countywide elected official. They head businesses that usually patrol unincorporated parts of their county but additionally present backup to metropolis police departments and typically patrol small cities that lack their very own power. Many, like Marceno, maintain made-for-YouTube news conferences and use TikTok and different social media — ceaselessly going simply as viral because the perpetrators.
Take Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson in Florida’s Panhandle.
During a current news convention a couple of housebreaking, Johnson, elected in 2016, mentioned a home-owner had fired pictures however did not hit the suspect. Johnson inspired that house owner to take a gun security course supplied each different Saturday on the sheriff’s workplace so he may higher take issues into his personal palms.
“Learn to shoot a lot better,” Johnson mentioned. “Save the taxpayers’ money.”
On the Atlantic Coast, close to Cape Canaveral, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey makes a sport of crime — actually. His weekly “ Wheel of Fugitive ” movies function the sheriff spinning a wheel with images of 10 of the county’s most needed.
“Everybody watches it. Even the fugitives watch it” to see who turns into “fugitive of the week,” Ivey mentioned.
The fortunate winner of 1 current episode was a 32-year-old white male accused of petit theft and failure to seem. The sheriff, first elected in 2012, seemed into the digital camera as if talking on to the person and urged him to give up: “Stop messing up and stop breaking the law. Get all of it behind you.”
The Twitter account of Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco — who has starred in A&E Network’s “Live PD” present — made a splash with native “Sad Criminal of the Day” posts. His company additionally copyrighted the now-viral hashtag, #9pmroutine, a reminder to lock automobile doorways and houses each night time.
In January, the division minimize off social media feedback as a result of the accounts fell sufferer to their success. With over 300,000 Facebook followers — greater than double that of a lot bigger Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in close by Tampa — Nocco mentioned individuals have been too usually reporting crimes on-line quite than calling 911.
Over in central Florida is, maybe, the highest-profile enemy of Florida Man (and Florida Woman).
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who consistently targets gangs, drug sellers, and prostitution rings in his folksy Southern drawl, has been a frequent hit on TV since he was first elected with no social gathering affiliation in 2005. Judd says of faculty shooters: “We’re going to shoot you graveyard dead.”
He also has praised homeowners for firing on intruders, including one last December: “He gave him an early Christmas present. Only Santa Claus gets to come in your house,” Judd told a news conference.
Judd often refers to the Polk County Jail as the “Polk Pokey,” and final vacation season, his workplace bought their model of the favored Elf on the Shelf doll, dubbed Sheriff on a Shelf, and he personally autographed Sheriff Judd bobbleheads.