SIMPLE & QUICK: Veepstakes for Val is fleeting as the Nation seeks new solutions and rejects old school policing

Former Vice President Joe Biden anticipates announcing his choice of 2020 Presidential election running mate sometime around August 1st. The shortlist includes former GA state House minority leader Stacey Abrams, New Mexico Governor Michelle Luian Grisham, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Rep. Val Demings, D-FL.

Raised in Jacksonvile, Florida, Valdez (Val) Venita Demings, attended segregated Florida primary schools before earning a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Florida State University in 1979. Demings worked for a year and a half as a social worker after college before taking patrol as an officer for the Orlando Police Department. In this role, Rep. Demings found a successful career and love. Her husband and fellow officer became the first black police chief of OPD.  This title was later earned by Val, herself, who became the first black female police chief of OPD.

While a police officer, Demings earned her master’s degree in public administration from Webster University Orlando in 1996. After her tenure as chief of police, Demings ran for and lost her first attempt for Florida’s 10th district. She also ran for and lost a mayoral bid for Orange County, Florida. Nevertheless, she persisted. Val Demings was elected Representative for the U.S. House in 2016. She quickly gained status as a member of the New Democrat Coalition and the Congressional Black Caucus. Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose Demings as one of seven impeachment managers for President Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings.

Demings has made striking achievements and no doubt has a commanding narrative for a case to be Joe Biden’s VP sweeps pick. However, it may be her very tenet of law and order and history of less-than-progressive policing of her Orlando Police Department that raise doubts on Demings’ demeanor. Clearly, America is at an inflection point regarding policing. This moment requires progressive attitudes that look beyond old remedies and finds innovative and community-based solutions to policing in America.

When addressing a 2010 police brutality case against OPD— a case not unlike the recent incident regarding a 75-year-old New York man— Chief Demings said, “the officer performed the technique within department guidelines.”  The 2010 incident involved an 84-year-old man, who was flipped over and body slammed into the ground by an OPD officer. The 84-year-old WWII veteren’s neck was broken by the officer. The victim was later awarded a nearly $1M tax-payer funded settlement in Federal court.

In 2015, Chief of Police Val Demings left her unattended squad car unlocked and her police-issued hand gun and ammunition inside. The items were stolen and the hand gun was never recovered. Of course, mishaps happen in everyone’s career. What is important, however, when observing a candidate for the Second-Highest Office is how the candidate responded. In the case of Val Demings, the then-police chief took a month to report the loss of her service weapon. Her Department’s Internal Affairs responded with written censoring.

In a time where America is searching for new solutions toward an anti-racist and anti-militarized policing structure, many voters will be unenthused by Demings. Perhaps, if Demings had restructured the OPD and produced a bastion of community policing to share with America, her time as police chief would resound positively. Unfortunately, it appears policing tactics and culture were status quo under Val. It is also concerning that in an era of pervasive gun violence, Orlando has one more unaccounted for firearm on the streets.