Deputy Juan Lara…professional, dedicated, loyal, fair, and a man who loves and appreciates his job
by Páll Gudgeirsson
It’s been a long and winding road for Deputy Juan Lara from his childhood in San Jose to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) 2021 San Clemente Deputy of the Year. Deputy Lara has navigated the career turns along that winding road which continues to this day as he crosses the Ortega Highway from his home in Lake Elsinore to a midnight — ‘where the action is’ — shift, as a Deputy and Field Training Officer for the City of San Clemente.
I recently had the privilege to interview Deputy Lara to find out what is ‘behind his badge.’ As a highly trained and educated Sheriff’s deputy and a devoted family man, I found him to be exactly what a local city looks for in a local law enforcement officer — professional, dedicated, loyal, fair, and someone who loves and appreciates his job.
The Winding Road
The winding road began in Anaheim where he graduated from Katella High School and competed in water polo and swimming for four years. In fact, Deputy Lara was the first generation of his family, who immigrated from Mexico, to graduate from high school and college. While attending and working towards his Associate Degree in Criminal Justice from Santa Ana College he worked as a security guard to pay for tuition. That was his initial “foot in the door,” and many more would open up over the years.
That next door opened when he was accepted into the City of Orange Police Department’s Cadet Program where he got his “feet wet and it looked exciting and I got to watch cops, do ride alongs, and I was hooked from the minute I got into a patrol car!” After a stint in Parking Enforcement and Dispatch, he realized that these positions were great stepping stones that he would use later in his role as a Field Training Officer and imparting his knowledge to deputies in training. The winding road would continue as he also joined the Laguna Police Department, while working full-time with Orange PD, and worked beach patrol as well as jailer on weekends. “I loved being on that beach”. Tough duty as he waited for that next opportunity to rise which turned out to be acceptance to the OC Sheriff’s Department Academy in 2012 and sworn in as a deputy and a first assignment in the jail facility where he mastered ‘verbal judo’ in learning how to handle people and altercations.
Those assignments turned out to be a “blessing in disguise and paved my way to being a good patrol officer and got me to where I am today.” Well said and a nice segue to my next query as to how old he was when he first knew he wanted to be in law enforcement. He immediately thought of pictures of himself as a five year-old boy standing with his Uncle Victor in front of a San Jose police vehicle. “I grew up with the idea I wanted to be in law enforcement even though I had no family in that field. I had an admiration for the profession as a young boy, especially for the San Jose police department — plus, it kept me out of trouble. Somebody along the way told me you have to live a certain way; you can’t sway at all.” It worked.
Although he didn’t picture himself being assigned to San Clemente, he was encouraged to apply by his supervisor in the Field Training Bureau. The City had a “reputation for being a great city to train in as it was one of the busiest contract cities. I would be bored anywhere else and it is such a good community. My favorite position so far in my career is as a deputy patrol officer in San Clemente — I love it here.”
A typical night shift
Deputy Lara currently reports to the Aliso Viejo substation. “I drive to the substation and make my way to the City, and coffee in the North End is the first stop. Load up, pick calls up and clear the board as I make my way to my 12 hour shift in my assigned area in South San Clemente. The nights can be busy. Once I arrive I find people to talk to — I am a snoop and I love getting into things and keep my eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Proactive traffic stops, park, and watch traffic and observe. You have to know what looks out of the norm and react.” Folks, this is what keeps a city safe at night.
Major issues
In response to what he sees as major issues in law enforcement in San Clemente, Deputy Lara makes clear that, in his personal opinion, drug issues are the leading cause for altercations, money, domestic and gang issues. “It all comes down to narcotic sales and, unfortunately, teens experimenting with drugs. I see trends change and now it is synthetic drugs that affect lives.”
Dangerous experiences
Deputy Lara is exactly right in response to his most dangerous experience — “we constantly put ourselves in danger. Lately, what we have seen is that there are more guns out there. In fact, in the last 18 months I have personally taken 8 guns off the streets through traffic stops. I do a lot of ‘snooping’ around and when I see signs of armed drivers I know that this is a dangerous situation I’ve put myself into.” As an example, earlier this year, he pulled over a suspicious driver who had an ammunition magazine in his center console. When, asked if he had a gun in his car he responded with “yeah, under my seat.” As Deputy Lara said, “You don’t know what you got till you ask the right questions!”
Deputy of the Year
Deputy Lara was recently selected as Orange County’s Deputy of the Year in San Clemente. As always the Exchange Club hosted the event which was socially distanced, but he was able to have his wife and children attend this momentous event. “It was quite an honor to be selected. It is something I always wanted as I wanted to prove myself and my mentors encouraged me. I love being proactive and want to be a deputy who leads by example. I demand a lot of my trainees and myself.”
The ‘Snoop’
“Definitely want an investigator position. I am a snoop and like to get my nose into things. I make it my business to be in your business! I have been selected into the TRIP (Targeting Reduction Investigation and Prevention) position where I will work undercover, driving around the city in an unmarked car, follow up on leads, gather experience and then take the investigator’s test.”
Who are you?
If a resident were to ask who you are? “I am a fair deputy to everyone. I may be dealing with them at their worst moment, but I can relate to them. I am not out to get people, it is all about fair and equal justice.”
Off duty
Deputy Lara spends his off time with “my lovely wife Dulce — happy wife, happy life!” and his two children, Joshua, 8, who is a baseball player, and Emily, 5, who is a ballet dancer. “Their interests are my interests and I also enjoy taking care of fish and aquariums.”
Closing
Deputy Lara is on a waypoint in his career as a law enforcement officer. His winding road is just beginning and we are lucky to have a deputy of his caliber serving our community. I look forward to seeing his rise in the Orange County Sheriffs Department.
