Anitra Dempsey has a long and distinguished record of service in the areas of community policing, nuisance abatement, police complaints and hate crime response/recognition/ prevention. She worked for the City of Long Beach for 30 years and served as the city’s first African American Deputy City Manager (Interim) to oversee the Office of Governmental Affairs, Office of Public Affairs, Citizen Police Complaint Commission and initiatives such as water quality, transportation, regional planning, grant development, violence prevention initiatives and state and regional funding issues. Additionally, Anitra served as the Executive Director of the Citizen Police Complaint Commission where she managed 11 commissioners, special investigators and administrative staff who investigate and render findings on allegations of police misconduct.
Prior to retiring, Anitra led efforts to reestablish and served as the interim President for the City of Long Beach Black Employee’s Association, formerly known as the Black Manager’s Association, provides professional development, mentoring and scholarships.
Anitra’s upholds community stewardship by serving on boards, mentoring, and volunteering. During her leadership as Board Chair for Goodwill Serving the People of Southern Los Angeles County (SOLAC), an organization that turns donated goods into jobs for those with barriers to employment, Goodwill SOLAC saw an annual increases in mission objectives, grants, revenue, training, visibility and marketing.
Anitra maintains membership in professional organizations and is a life-time member of the Long Beach Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
After the 2011 accidental death of her son, Jeff Jr, Anitra and her family (husband Jeffery, Sr. and daughter, Ashley) established the Manchester-Dempsey Scholarship Fund via the Long Beach Community Foundation to provide scholarships to college bound Richard A. Gahr High School (Cerritos) wrestlers and to support messages of sports safety. In partnership with Action Sports Kids (ASK), Anitra promotes skateboarding safety and community stewardship among youth and young adults.
Highlights of Anitra’s countless awards and commendations include:
- Long Beach Branch NAACP Celebrating Compassion and Justice Lillie V. Grigsby award (November 2018)
- Excellence in Government award, Andy Street and NAACP Black History Month (February 2018)
- Certificate of Recognition, Congressman Alan Lowenthal, United States House of Representatives (April 2017)
- Keynote speaker at multiple events including professional organizations and college graduations.
- Grand Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade, Long Beach
- California Conference for Equality and Justice Gene Lentzner Humanitarian Award, 2014
- “Woman of the Year”, 27th Senatorial District
Anitra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science/English from Alabama State University. She completed course work at Western State University School of Law. She earned certificates of distinction in independent workplace investigations (Association of Workplace Investigators) and mediation training (Pepperdine University, Malibu). She is also certified Life Coach through the Vance Caesar Group.
