Role Police officer Name Val Demings | ||
 | ||
Full Name Valdez Venita Butler Alma mater | ||
Val demings first female chief of police orlando fl
Valdez Venita "Val" Demings (née Butler; March 12, 1957) is an American police officer and politician who serves as the member of the United States House of Representatives from Florida's 10th congressional district. She served as Chief of the Orlando Police Department, the first woman to hold the position. She was the Democratic nominee in both 2012 and 2016 to represent Florida's 10th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, the latter of which Demings won.
Contents
- Val demings first female chief of police orlando fl
- Orlando police chief val demings to retire
- Early life
- Career
- 2012 US House campaign
- Aborted run for Orange County Mayor
- 2016 US House campaign
- Tenure
- Committee assignments
- Personal
- References
Orlando police chief val demings to retire
Early life
Valdez Venita Butler was born on March 12, 1957, one of seven children born to a poor family; her father worked in orange groves, while her mother was a housekeeper. They lived in Mandarin, a neighborhood in Jacksonville, Florida. She attended segregated schools in the 1960s, graduating from Wolfson High School in the 1970s.
Her desire for a career in law enforcement came when Demings served in the "school patrol" at Dupont Junior High School. She attended Florida State University, graduating with a degree in criminology in 1979.
Career
After graduating from college, Demings worked as a social worker in Jacksonville for 18 months. In 1983, she applied for a job with the Orlando Police Department (OPD), and she began with the department on patrol on Orlando's west side.
Demings was appointed as Chief of the OPD in December 2007, becoming the first woman to lead the department. As Chief, she was credited with reducing violent crime in Orlando. She retired from the position effective June 1, 2011, after serving with the OPD for 27 years.
2012 U.S. House campaign
Demings was the Democratic Party nominee for the United States House of Representatives in Florida's 10th congressional district in the 2012 elections. She faced freshman Republican Daniel Webster in a district that had been made slightly more Republican than its predecessor. Demings narrowly lost, taking 48 percent of the vote to Webster's 51 percent.
Aborted run for Orange County Mayor
Democrats attempted to recruit Demings to run against Webster again in 2014. After considering her options, she decided to run for Mayor of Orange County, Florida, against Teresa Jacobs, instead. Demings dropped out of the mayoral race on May 20, 2014.
2016 U.S. House campaign
Demings ran again for the 10th district seat after a court-ordered redistricting made the 10th significantly more Democratic ahead of the 2016 elections. She won the Democratic Party nomination on August 30, and won the general election with 65% of the vote.
Tenure
Rep. Demings was sworn in on January 3, 2017. She is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus.
Committee assignments
Personal
Her husband, Jerry Demings, is the Orange County Sheriff. Previously, he served as the Chief of the OPD, the first African American to do so, from 1999 through 2002. The two met while on patrol in the OPD; they married in 1988 and have three children.