Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd went on Twitter to issue a warning to Florida residents who might seek shelter from Hurricane Irma:
Sheriff Judd promised sworn law enforcement officials would be at each shelter checking identification. Needless to say, the reaction has probably not been what tough guy Judd was expecting:
A Polk County Sheriff’s office spokesperson said they were trying to protect against sex offenders who might be seeking shelter and From the Daily Beast:
Floridians who stand to be jailed may simply choose not to seek shelter in the midst of a Category 5 storm. If that happens, Carrie Horstman, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s office said, the fault won’t lie with authorities. “I don’t know at this point what this storm will do,” she told The Daily Beast. “We are trying to give people a heads up as many days in advance as possible to prepare of this storm.”
Despite the immediate backlash against Sheriff Judd’s comments, they don’t seem to be backing down:
“While we are checking, if we see someone with an active warrant we have to place them under arrest,” she added. She didn’t seem persuaded by the criticism that this would discourage people from showing up in the first place. “That is a risk a person would run,” Horstman said. “I think it is much safer to be in our jail than to expose yourself to a Category 5 storm. You are using the phrase, ‘people who are scared to go to jail.’ If you have a warrant, legally you should be in jail. You should turn yourself in and be safe in our jail rather than risk your life waiting out a storm.”
Ride it out and risk death or face arrest for seeking shelter. Polk County has a strange way of protecting and serving.
For what it’s worth, for those seeking to leave Florida, they’d have to be wealthy to get a flight out. Complaints of airlines price gouging are pouring in:
Complaints of price gouging are on the rise in the Sunshine State, reaching the point where Attorney General Pam Bondi has activated a hotline to report businesses suspected of taking advantage of people preparing for the storm. As of Tuesday afternoon, the hotline had received 143 calls.