The UTD Mercury

Lupe Valdez

Springapalooza's Women's Month Celebration on March 20 was started off with an interview with Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez on Radio UTD.

Freshmen Residential Life coordinator Randi Mogul and Student Union Activities Advisory Board multicultural and diversity chair Anthony Broderick interviewed Valdez live on SUAAB's weekly 6-8 p.m. radio show in the Student Union. Valdez was the final speaker in SUAAB's Diversity Leadership Speaker Series.

Valdez is the first female sheriff of Dallas County, the first Hispanic elected to the office and is openly lesbian. She is seeking a second term in the November 2008 elections.

Valdez said making changes to the department she was elected to lead was the hardest thing she'd faced. She said she had to "force folks I cared about to make changes and the ones who didn't had to be let go."

Some members of the department are still angry, she said, but the other 90 percent who'd never received fair treatment are much happier.

"It's amazing how intelligent the minorities got after we started making it an equal system, suddenly many are doing well. Before, none of them seemed to be doing well," she said.

Valdez earned the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army before entering law enforcement. She said the field is still male-dominated but is far more diverse than it was thirty years ago.

"Wisdom comes in knowing when to say something and when not to say something ... I was a strong female agent and I was crying inside but I couldn't show a tear on the outside," Valdez said.

Not all of Valdez's experiences were negative. She said people who are resistant to change tend to be vocal but she has also encountered vocal support throughout her career.

"I worked for the bureau of prisons right when women first started coming in. It was a very rough time and many lawsuits followed, but there were always one or two guys who were vocally supportive. If we asked why, they'd usually say they wanted their daughter to have the just as many opportunities as anyone else," Valdez said.

Today, she said, most people in law enforcement she encounters just want good management and policies that make sense. She said reforms that embrace diversity help produce a stronger department, city or corporation.

Valdez doesn't fit many of the Texas law enforcement stereotypes. Valdez said people, particularly those she meets outside the state, are often surprised that she is short, female and does not speak roughly.

However, she does ride a horse with the Sheriff Department's volunteer posse when her 20-hour days permit. The posse is comprised of law enforcement and first responders trained as peace officers who conducts search and rescue on horseback and ride together in parades.

Valdez said her campaign is seeking volunteers. More information about Valdez and her campaign can be found at www.lupevaldez.com.

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