Polk County Sheriff’s Office Switched to vis/ability

The Modernization of a Nationally-Acclaimed Law Enforcement Agency.

The Polk County’s Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) serves and protects more than 880,000 residents across Polk County. Located in central Florida, between Tampa and Orlando, the county spans approximately 2,010 square miles—making it the state’s fourth largest by area and one of the most populous. As the community continues to grow, so does the need for more advanced, coordinated public safety operations.

Led by Sheriff Grady Judd—widely known as “America’s Sheriff”—the agency has earned national recognition for its aggressive and effective approach to combating crime, particularly human trafficking.

Notable operations include:

Challenge

The Polk Country Sheriff’s office is dedicated to excellence in every aspect of their operation. As the county’s population expanded in recent years, the PCSO Emergency Communications Center (ECC) faced growing demands. Its legacy video wall system was outdated and no longer supported
the content, speed, scale, or coordination required for modern public safety operations. While the team initially sought a replacement of just the video wall display, it quickly became clear that broader modernization was needed in order to satisfy the agency’s high standards.

Solution

After evaluating alternatives, the Sheriff’s Office chose to standardize on the vis/ability software platform and partner with Activu, instead of a simple video wall hardware replacement with its long-time provider. This forward-looking decision proved key to PCSO’s modernization of its entire operations environment.

Vis/ability, driving fine pitch DV-LED video walls and other LCD displays, met PCSO’s high standards for performance, reliability, and responsiveness for a next-generation public safety platform. The Emergency Communications Center can now seamlessly share real-time data with the County’s Real Time Crime Center (RTCC), while vis/ability offers integration with any critical systems the agency might use, like Flock ALPR, video surveillance, Fusus dashboards, gunfire detection, and more. Vis/ability enables faster response and more informed decision-making during active incidents, through an automated, feature-rich common operating picture.

Result

The Activu team completed the ECC video wall and software platform install not a moment too soon. The following day, when a category 3 hurricane hit central Florida, the Polk County ECC was ready, directing emergency and rescue services more efficiently than ever before, and assisting residents with information to stay safe as the storm cut through the low-lying region.

With vis/ability from Activu, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office raises the bar for operational excellence, better equipped to manage the complexities of modern public safety. The integrated, real-time operational view, only possible with vis/ability, strengthens coordination across teams and agencies—playing a critical role in complex investigations, breaking up large-scale human trafficking operations, drug busts, and broader public safety readiness.