Lupe Valdez
Lupe Valdez is an American law enforcement official and the Sheriff of Dallas County, Texas. She is Texas's only female sheriff, as well as being one of only very few openly gay holders of that office. [1]
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
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 election to the Sheriff's office in 2004.
Election as Sheriff
Valdez was elected as a Democrat to the Dallas County's Sheriff's office in November 2004. She was widely considered the underdog in her general election race against Republican Danny Chandler.
Chandler, a 30-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department, 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, attending the pro-gay Cathedral of Hope of Greater Dallas.
Sheriff Valdez is expected to be a one term Sheriff. Her qualifications and experience fall very short of being able to run a department of this size.
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Accomplishments
Since becoming Sheriff, Sheriff Valdez has worked with Parkland Hospital, the Dallas County Commissioners Court and other County agencies to turnaround the major problems she inherited.
In her first year in office, Sheriff Valdez canceled the County's commissary contract for the jail, which had been set up in a "sweetheart" arrangement by her predecessor. The Department put in place a new contracting system, which has resulted in an increase of income to the Department of nearly $2.0 million. ( Public Record - Presentation to the Dallas County Commissioners Court, July 31, 2007 )
The Sheriff has overseen the hiring of over 400 new guards, raising the number of Detention Service officers from 850 in January 2005 to over 1,200 today. More guards are needed to meet full compliance with the state's 48-prisoner per guard ratio, and the Sheriff is working with the Commissioners Court to bring staffing levels in line with legal requirements.( Public Record - Presentation to the Dallas County Commissioners Court, July 31, 2007 )
References
- ^ Blotcher, Jay. Dallas Gets Lesbian Sheriff, The Advocate (December 7, 2004). Retrieved on May 17, 2007.
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The Jail Commissary is the Responsibility of the Dallas County Commissioners Court, not Sheriff Valdez. (Dallas Morning News)
The traffic management program was well underway before she was elected. The first two phases of the plan were completed when she took office. (Public Record)
The staffing of the jail has been a problem for years, this Sheriff Valdez did inherit. The commissions court for 10 years plus have not funded the department. (Public record of Sheriffs Department and Commissioner’s Court)
The D.W I. truck that has been very successful in getting drunk drivers off the streets. In the last 12 plus months it has been used once for that purpose or any other law enforcement purpose. (Sheriff Department record)
The newest policy is hiring guards and letting them work before they are trained. This is a concern in that it puts inmates and guards at a security risk. (Dallas Morning News)
Policy Changes
The Sheriff’s Department will no longer make room/s available to any other agency for the purpose of interviewing a suspect. The reason for this is the room/s where in an unsecured area of the department. (Dallas Morning News)
Note: With all of the secured areas of the jail, I think Sheriff Valdez could find rooms to meet the needs of outside Agencies. (Dallas Morning News)
All persons being brought to jail shall see the nurse prior to being booked into the Dallas County Jail. This new process keeps arresting officers off there regular duty for 3 to 8 hours. The old way took about 30 minutes. (Dallas Morning News)
Note: Before this change, any person being brought to jail that had an injury or medical condition, did have to see the nurse prior to being booked in to the jail. (Sheriff Department records)