On Saturday, May 9,2020. Councilmember Rodriguez distributed an official looking letter on various social media sites in which he expressed his personal opinions on the forced closures of
various parts of our community. In the letter, Councilmember Rodriguez encouraged citizens to violate the current Public Health Orders set by the State of California and the County Public
Health Officer. He encouraged non-essential and unapproved businesses and their employees to return to work and open immediately.
The Oceanside Police Officers’ Association (OPOA) represents Police Officers. non-sworn support staff, and lifeguards in the City of Oceanside. Many of our members live in Oceanside and are active members of the community outside of work. There are plenty of members who actually share the same view-point as Councilmember Rodriguez and would like to see the community, businesses and economy return to ‘normal’ as soon as possible but we are in a difficult position as we cannot let our personal viewpoints dictate how we do our job. The laws and orders implemented during this public health crisis have been widely debated and there are valid arguments from varying viewpoints. These laws and guidelines were enacted by our Federal, State, County, and locally elected/appointed officials and are constantly being reassessed and changed. The directive from management within the Oceanside Police Department has been to seek voluntary compliance by educating the community of the current laws. In rare circumstances where there are no alternatives and compliance is not met, officers have been directed to enforce the law,. [As a point of reference, to date the OPOA is only aware of two individuals who were issued citations for a violation of the Public Health Order in the City of Oceanside]
No member of the OPOA wants to enforce shutting a business down. We support our local businesses and want them to thrive. In fact, in an effort to show our support and our desire to
keep the economy open, the OPOA has sponsored several local restaurants over the last couple months and paid for meals for on-duty personnel in an attempt to keep them operating.
That said, the OPOA has issues with Councilmember Rodriguez’ approach. Police Officers have a duty to follow an order which is not illegal, unethical or immoral. We are aware members of
our community hold the belief the County’s Public Health Order is unconstitutional and is therefore illegal. Supporters of this viewpoint would advocate that officers should not enforce these laws in an effort to defend the Constitutional rights of the citizens. However, the issue as we see it at this current point in time, is not that clear. While we can appreciate and respect these arguments. we feel this situation is too fluid and complex to simplify these mandated Public Health Orders as a clear violation of the Constitution.
We believe Councilmember Rodriguez has good intentions, which is why the OPOA endorsed his campaign to office in 2018, but his potentially inflammatory rhetoric places officers on the
frontlines in a lose-lose situation. We feel his letter adds confusion and fuel to the fire of this already highly politicized and controversial issue. Councilmember Rodriguez argued his recommendations are based on the fact he has, “…exhausted every avenue available to advocate and pressure meaningful changes…” The OPOA maintains the position there are still legal
remedies available to Councilmember Rodriguez to promote change without encouraging citizens to willfully violate the law.
Police Officers are, and will always be on the front lines of conflict, but we do not make the laws, nor do we have the ability to deem laws unconstitutional based on our personal opinions.
Change needs to come from our duly elected/appointed executive officials, our legislative bodies, or our courts. We support our local business and want to see them thrive, but we also
have a job to do. The bottom line is we are in a difficult situation which was made worse by Councilmember Rodriguez. We would encourage Councilmember Rodriguez, and any member
of the community for that matter, to use more appropriate avenues to implement change and to lawfully challenge any laws they believe are unjust.
Respectfully,
OPOA Board of Directors