Val Thomas is a retired Police Captain III from the Los Angeles Police Department, with over 27 years of distinguished service. Throughout her career, she developed strong, collaborative relationships with diverse communities, businesses, and faith-based organizations, fostering trust and mutual respect. She provided critical oversight for investigations, including use of force cases, as well as workplace, community, and criminal personnel complaints, to ensure constitutional policing, organizational accountability, and effective training.
Val’s career included several key leadership positions. As the Aide to the Inspector General, she addressed vital issues such as risk management, consent decree compliance, and training. As a Lieutenant II, she led the Community Relations Section, enhancing citywide community engagement on behalf of the Office of the Chief of Police. In her various command roles, Val oversaw a wide range of operations, including patrol, training, crime analysis, detectives, narcotics, vice, gang impact teams, and community relations. She also served as Commanding Officer of both a traffic division and the Internal Affairs Division, where she developed strategies to manage complex personnel investigations with thoroughness and efficiency.
Val holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Behavioral Science from National University, and a Master of Public Administration degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.