Cop Watch: Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez Has Been Sued

There’s a new Sheriff in town, but does she hold a grudge?

Mebbe. Four Dallas County Sheriff’s Deputies have sued their boss, Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, along with the Executive Chief Deputy Jesse Flores, alleging that the Sheriff transferred them to yucky jobs after she got elected because they had supported her opponent in the election.

The yucky jobs? Working night shift at the jail.

Of course, the deputies are suing in federal court, and they want their old jobs back, along with money damages. They’re suing under the federal crime of “illegal political retaliation,” along with alleging there’s been violations of their U.S. constitutional rights to free speech, as well as due process and equal protection violations in how they were treated in the county civil service system. (They are all long-time veterans of the department.)

What did they do before?

One was the county’s only motorcycle deputy, and he got moved to the information desk at the jail for the midnight shift. Another was one of the two police dog handlers; he also got the midnight shift. The third was the department’s firearms instructor, and he got the evening shift, which looks like it’s bad but better than the graveyard duty the other two are pulling right now.

Is it tradition?

This lawsuit has just begun; however, there are ramblings by the defense and rumors in the media that retaliatory actions by Texas Sheriffs after elections are rampant across the state, almost like it’s a tradition or something.

Guess this is just one more thing for the feds to be investigating, once they get done with counting all the recliners over in the Wichita Falls jail.

Recliners? Yep. For the details, see last week’s post: Sheriff Bill Keating pled guilty to federal sexual assault charges, he’ll be sentenced in May, and he’s out on the streets right now – he did have to surrender his guns, though.

Sources:

Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/012909dnmetvaldez.161a8e4a.html

KERA
http://publicbroadcasting.net/kera/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1463777&sectionID=1

Associated Press
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g6FG_8F8-Kdg5r_VIRh9X6tBOIUQD960V0O82

DallasJustice.Com
http://dallaslawyer.blogspot.com/2009/02/cop-watch-north-texas-sheriff-cops-plea.html