OXNARD : City to Offer Police Services to Hueneme

Oxnard officials agreed Tuesday to offer to provide police services to neighboring Port Hueneme, a move that could save Port Hueneme $385,000 a year.

In a report to the City Council, Oxnard Police Chief Harold Hurtt said his Police Department could provide police services to Port Hueneme for $1.88 million a year. The proposal includes the presence of a supervising sergeant 24 hours a day.

“This is not an unusual phenomenon,” Hurtt said of the contractual arrangement. “Now we’ll wait and see what their response is.”

Cash-strapped Port Hueneme has agreed to consider contracting for police services as a way to cut costs.

In September, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department submitted a proposal to provide police services to Port Hueneme for $1.85 million a year. The sheriff’s proposal also would save Port Hueneme more than $300,000 a year.

Under the Oxnard proposal, the Oxnard Police Department would hire most, if not all, of Port Hueneme’s police officers. Those officers would retain their Port Hueneme uniforms and continue to drive cars bearing the Port Hueneme city seal.

The Oxnard department also would deploy its Special Weapons and Tactics team as needed in Port Hueneme.

Hurtt said Oxnard will send the proposal in a few days. He said he doesn’t expect a decision for several weeks at the earliest.

In the meantime, Port Hueneme officials say they will consider placing a measure on the June ballot that would give city voters the option of raising property taxes between $28 and $39 a year so the city could keep its own Police Department.

If such a measure is put on the ballot, officials say a decision on whether to contract for police services probably would be postponed until after the election.