Lupe Valdez is an American law enforcement official and the Sheriff of Dallas County, Texas. She is Texas's only elected female sheriff, as well as being one of only very few openly gay holders of that office. [1]
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Early life
Born to migrant farm worker parents, she was raised in San Antonio as one of eight children. She started life working in the fields, but managed to pay her way through college, earning a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. She then took a Master's degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Career
Prior to entering law enforcement, Lupe Valdez was an officer in the United States Army. During her time in the Army, she attained the rank of captain. Her law enforcement career began as a jailer, first in a county jail and then a federal prison. She then moved on to investigative roles as an agent of the General Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and, finally, the U.S. Customs Service where she was a leader in the federal Counter Smuggling Initiative. With the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2002, she was made a Senior Agent, serving in that role until her retirement in 2004. In January 2004, Lupe Valdez retired to run for the office of Dallas County Sheriff.
Election as Sheriff
On January 2, 2004, Lupe Valdez announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Dallas County Sheriff. During the primary election, she faced three opponents, and finished as the highest vote-getter with 13,867 votes. She subsequently won a run-off election against future Dallas County Judge Jim Foster. Valdez won 73% of the vote in the run-off. As she entered the general campaign, Valdez was widely considered the underdog in her general election race against Republican Danny Chandler. Chandler, a 30-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department, had defeated incumbent Sheriff Jim Bowles in the Republican primary. Bowles, who was tainted by corruption allegations, had held the office for 20 years. The general election saw Valdez beat Chandler by 51.3% to 48.7% - a margin of some 18,000 votes. The election, combined with the fact that Valdez is female, Hispanic and a lesbian, made national headlines and was even reported overseas. As an openly gay candidate for public office, Valdez's campaign won the backing of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. She was sworn in on January 1, 2005. Valdez is a committed Christian, and formerly attended the pro-gay Cathedral of Hope of Greater Dallas. Upon taking office as Dallas County Sheriff, Valdez faced a Department that was wracked by poor morale, tainted by allegations of corruption and marred by the fact that the Dallas County Jail had begun failing state and federal inspections prior to her election. The Jail had failed inspections because of poor sanitation conditions, a failing smoke evacuation system, unacceptable medical care and a lack of sufficient guards to meet the legally-required guard-to-inmate ratio.
2008 Re-Election Campaign
Sheriff Valdez formally filed for re-election to a second term on December 3, 2007. In her announcement speech, she stated that she is running to "complete the turnaround of the Dallas County Sheriff's Department and Dallas County Jail." Videos of her announcement speech and introduction by Commissioner John Wiley Price are available on her campaign website.
Fixing the Dallas County Jail
Repairing the damaged Dallas County Jail system that she inherited has dominated the Sheriff's term in office. In order to correct the problems that have been causing the jail to fail inspection, the Sheriff has: 1. Worked with the Dallas County Commissioners Court to hire over 500 new detention service officers for the Dallas County Jail system. These new officers, when coupled with the drop in jail population, have brought the jail in line with mandated guard-to-inmate ratios. 2. Authorized the use of overtime to provide sanitation supervision. The Dallas County Sheriff's Department budget does not include funds for officers to supervise inmates doing sanitation work. The Sheriff has had to spend beyond her budget in order to bring jail sanitation up to legally required standards, and will continue to do so until the Commissioners Court provides adequate funding for these legally-required positions. 3. Pressed the Commissioners Court to order the Dallas County Maintenance Department to be more thorough and prompt in dealing with Jail maintenance requests. In September 2007, the Commissioners Court authorized Maintenance to use overtime hours as required to bring maintenance in the jail up to legal standards. 4. Worked with the Commissioners Court and the Parkland Health System to turnaround healthcare in the Jail. The previous healthcare vendor was unable to provide adequate care within the budget authorized by the Commissioners Court. Parkland is receiving nearly twice as much in funding as the previous provider, and has dramatically improved healthcare. 5. Implemented part of the new Parkland Health System contract -- a screening program that prevents ill individuals from spreading diseases in the Jail by requiring that arrested individuals undergo a medical screening prior to being brought into the Jail. Studies by both the Dallas County Sheriff's Department and the Dallas Police Department indicate that, on average, this process takes less than 30 minutes. Over 50,000 individuals have been screened prior to being brought into the Jail since this policy was put in place, and the result has been far lower rates of disease transmission within the Jail. 6. Demanded the installation of a new smoke evacuation system. This legally-required upgrade to the Jail has not yet been delivered by the Commissioners Court, and until it is installed the Jail cannot pass inspection. In September 2007, the Commissioners Court finally approved the upgrade, but installation will take up to one year. 7. Contracted for the building and installation of new laundry facilities. The previous Jail laundry was incapable of meeting the legally-required uniform change out rate of once a week. The Jail's new laundry machines, which were built by a company in Dallas County, use far less water and electricity, and are capable of bringing the Jail up to legal standards, all while working half as long each day as the previous laundry facility. 8. Supervised construction on the South Tower Jail. Due to be opened in early 2009, the new Jail facility will be organized around a "direct supervision" model preferred by the Sheriff. This model requires less manpower to monitor inmates, and has been successfully implemented by Sheriff Valdez in the intake sector of the current Jail facility. Because of her intense focus on changing conditions in the Dallas County Jail, Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price has taken to calling Sheriff Valdez "the clean up woman." Such a reference can be seen in the filing announcement videos linked above.
Other Initiatives
Though she has worked most noticeably on the situation regarding the Dallas County Jail, Sheriff Valdez has also overseen the expansion and improvement of other Department activities. 1. Under Sheriff Valdez, the Department's DWI Enforcement Task Force, which is funded by a grant and only in use when sufficient officers requesting overtime hours are available, have expanded the scope of their operations, leading to record levels of DWI stops and convictions. 2. Sheriff Valdez worked with the Dallas police chief and Dallas City Council to revise "Phase 2" of the Department's multi-step plan to take over responsibility for all Dallas highways. As of January 1, 2008, the new Phase 2 will go live, and Sheriff's deputies will patrol, police and clear all Dallas County Highways south of Interstate 30. 3. In order to correct problems that arose under her predecessor, Sheriff Valdez instituted new policies for the awarding of Department contracts. This ended a controversial commissary contract that favored friends of the previous Sheriff. The new contract established under Sheriff Valdez's rules brings in $1.5 million more a year than the previous contract. This money is used to fund jail programs that would otherwise have to be paid for with tax dollars. 4. Sheriff Valdez brought in a third party vendor to prepare and grade anonymous tests used to evaluate candidates for promotions. Promotions are now issued based upon these test results, and subsequent to this change the diversity amongst those receiving Department promotions has risen a great deal.
References
- ^ Blotcher, Jay. Dallas Gets Lesbian Sheriff, The Advocate (December 7, 2004). Retrieved on May 17, 2007.
External links
| Preceded by Jim Bowles |
Sheriff of Dallas County, Texas January 1 2005–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
