Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez praises officers at DNC

Dallas Sheriff Lupe Valdez speaks during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. AP Photo, J. Scott Applewhite.

by Rob Howard
Associate Editor

Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez walked to the podium at the DNC tonight with one purpose in mind. After a few remarks, she introduced some family members of the five Dallas officers slain earlier this month.

Sheriff Valdez praised the courage of police officers around the country, saying, “When my officers start a day, they have no idea what that are facing that day. They don’t know whether the next 911 call will be their last, but they keep answering the call. We put on our badge every day to serve and protect, not to hate and discriminate.”

She pointed out that the killed officers and seven others who were wounded, were protecting citizens who were exercising their right to peaceful protest, and called for a moment of silence for slain police officers.

Sheriff Valdez is serving her third term for the citizens of Dallas County. Originally elected in 2004, she has been reelected twice, and is running for her fourth term this year. She was the first woman, the first ethnic minority and the first lesbian ever elected to the post, and is a Democrat in a heavily Republican state.

Valdez addressed the division between law officers and citizens, saying, “Yelling, screaming and calling each other names is not going to do it. We have to start listening to each other. My deputies work hard to reach out to the communities they serve…The only way to serve a community is to know your community.”

Valdez had a long law enforcement career before she, “decided to gamble job security and retirement income to run for Sheriff,” says LGBTHistoryMonth.com. Her first election campaign was generally cordial, according to the Houston Chronical, until the end of the campaign when her opponent tried to make an issue of Valdez’s endorsement by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.

The Victory Fund works, “To elect LGBT leaders to public office for one simple reason. They change America’s politics.”

And it seems she has changed Dallas’ politics. Valdez related a personal note at the end of her remarks, saying, “Last Sunday I went in uniform to meet my partner for lunch. When I went to pay the bill, the server said that four other tables had offered to pay for our meal.”

After asking for a moment of silence, Valdez introduced the families of the slain officers to the assembled delegates at the convention.

Copyright 2016 – The Gayly – July 28, 2016 @ 8 p.m.