A conversation with Lt. Aldana at the Fallbrook Sheriff's Substation on recent events

Across the country and even in Fallbrook, the death of George Floyd, a Black man, after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes, has triggered mass protests, both against that specific incident and the larger issue of police brutality.

In many communities, though certainly not all, Floyd’s death has caused much criticism of law enforcement and eroded confidence in local agencies. Some law enforcement agencies, including the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, are responding to some of that criticism by evaluating their policies.

Specifically, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department announced at the beginning of June that it would ban the use of the carotid restraint, a chokehold that can render detainees unconscious but can be deadly if performed improperly.

Village News talked with Lt. Arnold Aldana, who runs the Fallbrook Sheriff’s Substation, on Monday, June 29, about some of these topics. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Many communities are currently struggling with their relationships with local law enforcement, but Fallbrook has historically not had a negative relationship with the Sheriff’s Department. What do you think Fallbrook’s relationship with you is now, in the current climate?

Fallbrook, the citizens of Fallbrook, definitely are very supportive of the sheriff’s department. Since everything that's been happening, especially with the protests around the nation, there has been an outpouring of support from the citizens. It’s a good feeling to know that the citizens definitely support us.

With the current situation, is there more outreach you would like to be doing?

I think what was done in the past with the other lieutenants and the station in general has been working out, but unfortunately due to COVID, a lot of that had to be put on pause, especially the coffee with the community. Unfortunately, we had to put that on hold, but hopefully in the near future we are able to continue talking about that.

Nearly everyone, by now, has seen the video of George Floyd’s killing. What was your reaction?

It’s definitely something that shouldn’t have happened and it’s hard for me to give an opinion on something that happened so far away and not part of our department, but it’s definitely something that shouldn't have been condoned and shouldn't have happened. It was unfortunate that it did, but I just want to make sure that you're aware that that type of behavior is not condoned.

The Sheriff’s Department announced it was ending the use of the carotid restraint on June 3. Do you think that will pose a problem for you?

It was a tool that we were able to reach into our tool bag to use. Only time will tell whether or not banning the use of the carotid is gonna have an adverse effect. I don't think so. We rarely use it, but when we do, we definitely apply it correctly, but certain circumstances such as whether the subject we are using it on is under the influence, it doesn't turn out the way it should turn out, but once it is applied correctly (that is different). Only time will tell whether it will have an adverse effect.

A topic that’s been the subject of much discussion right now is the amount of training law enforcement officers must get before being commissioned. Can you talk about what level of training you received?

I went through two academies. Before I was a law enforcement deputy, I was a correctional deputy so the correctional deputy training lasted about three months and that took us through the gamut of criminal law and training on custodial issues and such, and then once I did that I lateraled over to the law enforcement academy, and the law enforcement academy is about 25 weeks – six months. There’s a whole curriculum … the criminal justice system, policing in the community, and criminal law, proper crimes, crimes against persons, crimes against children and such and then we have use of force, crowd control. It’s pretty intensive. We have diversity, gang awareness, emergency training.

Is there any additional training you think might be necessary in light of recent events?

The sheriff’s department is pretty forward thinking … we were already doing de-escalation training; we implemented the body-worn cameras. It’s hard to tell what we need to add if anything. We’re always open to all ideas and training.

Any specific areas where you think more information would be better, though?

We’re pretty good, I just think we need to maybe spend more time on certain things, maybe cultural diversity, getting more ideas and training on de-escalation.

Can you talk about the protests there have been specifically in Fallbrook?

We’ve had three protests in the last month and a half and all of them have been very peaceful, other than a lot of honking, noise complaints, but that’s just typical with protests, and nothing in a violent nature and to be honest with you, if we were to get wind of anything … if anything of that nature were to happen, we have our contingent of resources. And to be honest with you, this town is good about self-policing themselves. We have protests and they have been very peaceful. They even reached out to us. We explain what needs to happen; they can’t block ingress or egress or have traffic enforcement problems, and they’re very receptive.

Did local deputies assist with local protests?

Vista’s had some pretty big ones, probably the biggest one (in the area). Big as far as people attending, but it was peaceful. We were all on standby when all of this happened because of the major one that occurred down in La Mesa – they actually requested assistance so everyone throughout the department was ready on standby. We were called out to Vista, but just as a contingency plan.

What are your thoughts on recent videos of law enforcement appearing to target journalists and protesters?

Generally, when you see that you're only seeing a certain portion of the incident; law enforcement in general will only act if something’s occurring. So, if you see any kind of tactics being utilized, it’s because of something occurring that prompts us to do that, and this is no slight to you, but generally the media will only cover a certain section and not give you the entire picture. It isn’t that we just automatically start using force because we want to use force; generally, there’s something that occurs that prompts us to do that. I think it’s being covered more often, but in general, I think that what’s occurring (is) people are not getting the full picture and they’re only getting a small picture. It’s unfortunate. It just brings a negative light to law enforcement in general, they’re painting a broad brushstroke with it.

Will Fritz can be reached by email at [email protected].