Polk sheriff, police make peace in meeting

Sheriff Johnny Moats says he met with County Manager Matt Denton, Assistant County Manager Barry Akinson and County Police Chief Kenny Dodd to work out their differences.

CEDARTOWN — The conflict between administrators in the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the Polk County Police Department is over, according to the Sheriff and the County Manager.

Polk County Sheriff Johnny Moats said on Friday last week that he met with County Manager Matt Denton, Assistant County Manager Barry Akinson and Polk County Police Chief Kenny Dodd to work out their differences following several months of investigation following allegations made by 18 anonymous officers that Moats posted in a letter to the County Commission.

Moats said in a follow-up interview on the issue that he had no further interest in pursuing the allegations with the Polk County Police Department.

Dodd had presented the anonymous complaints in a letter to the county commission on May 5. The commission then voted to look into the claims during an audit of the Polk County Police Department conducted by Brad McFall.

Moats added that he hoped that with a new start to the relationship between the two command staffs, they would begin to work anew on the public safety issues facing Polk County.

County Manager Matt Denton’s only comment on the meeting was that it was productive, and that “they (the command staffs) are committed to working together and moving forward to provide good effective policing for the citizens of Polk County.”

Neither Denton or Moats provided any further information about what happened during the meeting. Kevin Myrick, Polk County Standard Journal