Mission to Uganda gives Anaheim PD gang investigator life-changing perspective on job

As a gang investigator for the Anaheim PD, Officer Rudy Valdez deals with a lot of lost souls.

He strives to change gang members’ minds about the dead-end paths they’ve chosen.

He reminds them that whatever challenges they are facing at home and elsewhere, things could be much worse — that they have much to be thankful for, like basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter.

It’s a perspective Valdez gained during what he calls a life-changing mission to Uganda in November.

Valdez’s two-week stay at a village outside the African country’s capital and largest city, Kampala — his close friend and academy classmate, Orange PD Officer Ryan Obremski, invited Valdez to accompany him — reinforced his desire to be a role model on the job.

“Just spending time with them (Uganda orphans at a school) and being a mentor to them was really big,” Valdez said.

“As a police officer, it’s important for me to be a positive role model in the community, and letting (gang members) know that doing the right thing someday is going to pay off also is important,” he added.

“I know I can’t change the world, but if I can make a positive impact on a couple of people a day, that’s going to be a success for me.”

Valdez, 33, was a police officer in Orange for seven years before he transferred to the APD in 2014.

He got the law enforcement bug while working as a loss prevention agent at a Target in Torrance. Valdez moved to Southern California from his native El Paso, Texas to live with an uncle when he was 18.

He put himself through college, earning an associate’s degree in administration of justice from El Camino Junior College in Torrance and a bachelor’s degree in the same discipline from Cal State Long Beach.

At the Orange PD, Valdez fell in love with the gang detail.

The challenge of being a gang investigator was appealing.

“Victims are usually other gang members who don’t want to talk, and witnesses are scared of giving statements,” Valdez said. “But I enjoy getting to know the gang members and their families. It’s a great way to feel connected to the community.”

Valdez has been an investigator with the APD’s Gang Unit for just under a year.

He is part of a team of about 18 that includes investigators and detectives who chase down perps for crimes ranging from tagging to homicide.

Valdez specializes in two gangs, Citron, active in central Anaheim, and Barrio Pobre, active in west Anaheim.

He has investigated numerous incidents including assault with a deadly weapon, and he’s been in some pursuits.

The Africa trip resulted from an invitation from Obremski, whose late father, Chuck Obremski, was a minister. After Chuck died, his widow, Linda, established Chuck Obremski Ministries, which works with charities around the world and for years has sponsored a school for orphans outside Kampala.

“I saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Valdez said. “I’m always looking to help people out in the community. If you can give back to the community, to the less fortunate, or if you are a mentor or role model, that goes a long way.”

Valdez had to get five shots before the trip to Uganda and had to take medications before, during and after the trip. He used vacation time for the mission, Nov. 8-22.

He and the other dozen or so volunteers helped out the K-6 school and its 93 students any way they could.

They lugged over from the U.S. 19 bags filled with clothes, toys, school supplies and other donated items.

They painted classrooms and built a playground on a dirt field that had been used for soccer.

They brought new mattresses and sheets for the students, who sleep at the school.

And they cooked for the kids.

The APD, Disneyland and the Anaheim Angels donated items.

Valdez recalled the emotional moment when he and the volunteers were rushed by the kids greeting them as they hiked to the school after driving a bus in as far as they could.

“The kids hugged my leg and my waist, and some grabbed my hands and didn’t want to let go,” he said. “The older kids helped with our luggage, even a kid with an arm in a sling. He had a broken arm but still grabbed one of the luggage bags and rolled it to the school.”

Valdez also was touched during mealtime, when he and other volunteers would dish out the kids’ daily staple meal of maize and beans.

The younger kids got their food first.

“What broke my heart was toward the end, we gave an older kid just a small amount of maize and all that was left in the bean pot was broth,” Valdez said. “I scooped up a bunch of broth. And he looked at me and still said thank you. He never complained.”

After eating the food with their hands at their desks, some of the kids helped clean the pots.

Before washing the maize pot, two very small kids ate the crumbs in it.

“That really got me,” Valdez said.

The veteran officer called the mission to Uganda “very meaningful, very inspirational.”

He said he has a message for those he encounters on the job:

“You can’t be worrying about simple little problems when there are bigger problems going on in the world,” Valdez said. “You can’t take things for granted — the things you have on a daily basis that you don’t think are special. We’re lucky to live here in America.”

If anyone is interested in learning more about the ministry visit chuckobremski.com