In His Own Words: Paul Arteta, Republican Candidate for Orange County Sheriff, New York

MONTGOMERY, N.Y.—The Epoch Times sat down with Paul Arteta, the Republican candidate for Orange County Sheriff, at a coffee shop on Sept. 26.

Arteta won the Republican primary, besting Orange County Undersheriff Kenneth Jones by about 15 points. He will face Democratic candidate Bernie Rivers in the general election.

Carmen DeStefano, a retired investigator, is also running as a write-in candidate.

The incumbent, Sheriff Carl Dubois, will retire after 20 years in office.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

The Epoch Times: You’ve worked in various roles at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office for most of your career. How did you get into law enforcement?

Paul Arteta: I was born in Newburgh and raised in Ulster County. I was a union worker when my high school friends working in the jail suggested that I take the test. I did. I scored well, and I started working in jails in the early 90s. I had never been in trouble with the law before, and boom, I was with the bad people.

There was a really cool guy who would come into my little office and talk to me all the time. He said he was falsely accused, that he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, and looked like the black guy that actually did it. Then one day I got off work and found him waiting outside the jail for me. He told me he was cleared. I was like, ‘Wow, there are innocent people in here.’ That changed me.

Shortly before I left the jail to become a deputy, an inmate tried to hang himself. We got him cut down and saved his life. Later I found out the inmate had raped my uncle’s sister-in-law. A lot of people asked me if I had

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