Lieutenant Arana began his law enforcement career at the age of 15 at South Gate Police Department as a Police Explorer.  

He was became a Police Officer for the City of South Gate in 1997.  As an officer he served as:
• Crime Impact Team Officer
• General Investigations Detective
• Field Training Officer
• Narcotics Detective
• SWAT Officer
• SANE Officer
• Community Relations Officer

In 2011 he was promoted to Sergeant and supervised:
• The Narcotics and Special Problems Unit
• DEA Task Force
• Community Relations Team

In 2017 he was promoted to Lieutenant. Lieutenant Arana is currently the weekend graveyard Patrol Watch Commander and his  responsibilities of:
• SWAT Team • K9 Program
• Range Program