Chief David Valentin

Few people understand the intersection of public safety and California K-12 schools better than Chief David Valentin. A 33-year law enforcement veteran — the city's first homegrown and second Latino Chief of the Santa Ana Police Department — Chief Valentin brings to School Leaders a career defined by service, institutional leadership, and a deep, personal investment in the communities surrounding California's public schools.

Chief Valentin joined the Santa Ana Police Department in 1990 and worked his way through the ranks from Police Officer to Chief of Police, accumulating over 16 years of command-level experience across Field Operations, Investigations, and Administration — including serving as Commanding Officer of the department's Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team.

Before ascending to lead one of Orange County's largest municipal police departments, Chief Valentin served for nearly five years as Chief of Police for the Santa Ana Unified School District Police Department — the third-largest K-12 police agency in California — where he received local, regional, and national recognition for his leadership and organizational transformation of the department. That tenure gave him something rare: firsthand executive command experience inside a school district, overseeing a department that consisted of 23 sworn peace officers, four full-time dispatchers, and 38 civilian District Safety Officers providing 24-hour service to over 58,000 students and 4,600 staff members at 69 schools and district sites.

In 2018, Chief Valentin was unanimously confirmed by the Santa Ana City Council as the city's 21st Chief of Police.  Over six years at the helm of a department of more than 600 sworn and civilian personnel, he implemented a sweeping strategic vision built on his personal philosophy of "Community First." His administration achieved full authorized police officer staffing while simultaneously raising hiring standards; lowered emergency response times by 29%; implemented the first Family Justice Center co-located within a police department in the country; and led a dramatic decrease in overall officer-involved shootings and use-of-force incidents.

Nationally recognized for innovation, the Santa Ana Police Department under Chief Valentin was the only Orange County agency awarded a Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Office Hiring Grant in 2020, and was part of the national 30×30 Initiative to increase the percentage of sworn women officers.

The department also established the first therapeutic canine program in Orange County focused on employee and community wellness.

Chief Valentin is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the California POST Command College, and the prestigious Harvard University Program for State and Local Government Leaders. - He holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in Human Resources from California State University, Fullerton, and was inducted into the Santa Ana College Alumni Hall of Fame in 2008.

He served as President of the Orange County Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs Association for 2022–23, representing the collective voice of Orange County law enforcement. He has also served as an international consultant in Mexico and El Salvador with a focus on community-oriented policing, cultural diversity, and leadership development.

At School Leaders, Chief Valentin advises districts on the full spectrum of campus safety and security contracting — from school police department structuring and staffing, to safety assessments, security technology procurement, emergency operations planning, mental health and wellness program integration, and community policing frameworks. His experience operating inside a K-12 district at the executive level means he understands not just law enforcement best practices, but the unique governance, budget, and community dynamics that shape how school districts make public safety decisions.

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