Sarasota, FL
Joe Polzak advises the Sarasota Police Department as SPD’s sole embedded Legal Advisor and serves as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Sarasota. Joe also works with other law enforcement agencies and formerly served 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.
Joe has been selected to present best practices at many national conferences including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, CIT International, and International City/County Management Association, and has co-presented at events with the Council of State Governments, National Policing Institute, and U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance. He regularly authors articles on legal topics in policing for IACP’s Police Chief magazine. Joe 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. Joe’s research interests focus on the development of evidence-based programming to help law enforcement commanders stay out in front of rapidly developing, complex, and nuanced authority and oversight, and advance the legitimacy of policing operations throughout their communities.