Sarasota, FL
Joe Polzak advises the City of Sarasota and the Sarasota Police Department (SPD) on governance, risk, and compliance as the City Attorney for Sarasota. Previously, he served as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Sarasota since 2014. He works closely with SPD as a U.S. National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science (LEADS) Scholar and a Special Assistant State Attorney working on SPD cases. As a LEADS Scholar, his research interests focus on the development of evidence-based programming to help local government stay out in front of rapidly developing, complex, and nuanced authority and oversight, and advance the legitimacy of their operations throughout their communities. Mr. Polzak formerly served full time as a felony prosecutor for the State of Florida after earning a Bachelor of Science in Political Science, magna cum laude, from Florida State University and a Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law, with an Honors Certificate in International Law.
Mr. Polzak has been selected to present best practices in governance at many national conferences including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, CIT International, and the International City/County Management Association, and has co-presented at events with the Council of State Governments, National Policing Institute, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Mr. Polzak was co-recipient of the Sarasota NAACP President’s Award for co-developing SPD’s homelessness response program with the SPD Patrol Division Commander. This program was selected for the IACP Leadership in Human and Civil Rights Award. He also developed an environmental compliance program for the Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix, which was selected for the IACP David C. Cameron Leadership in Environmental Crimes Award.