Fillmore Gets $300,000 Grant to Battle Gangs : Crime: The city’s share of the federal package will permit the hiring of three more deputies to press the fight.

Fillmore will receive more than $300,000 to hire three additional police officers who will fight gang-related crime in the city, the Clinton Administration announced Monday.

Fillmore is one of only 11 cities of comparable size nationwide to receive the federal money, part of nearly $150 million that the Administration will eventually hand out to put more police on the streets of the nation’s cities.

Nearly $50 million was awarded Monday to 13 cities in California and 74 other cities nationwide.

Fillmore qualified for the money because of its increasing gang crime and an unemployment rate that has tripled since 1989.

Oxnard is still in the running for a later grant, but Ventura’s request for funds was denied, officials said.

California is the largest beneficiary of the program among the states so far, receiving 22% of the federal funds. Los Angeles’ grant of $4 million was the largest single award in the program.

Gov. Pete Wilson, during a brief Washington visit Monday, said the $150 million is “only a drop in the bucket” and expressed hope that the federal government will be able to offer more in the future.

But for Fillmore, the money was much more than a drop in the bucket. The city’s 29-member police force serves a population of 12,800, including more than 100 known gang members.

“It definitely will make a difference,” City Manager Roy Payne said. “We’re extremely pleased that we convinced the Clinton Administration that we needed these funds. We’re a small enough community that this will make a dramatic and measurable impact on crime.”

Oxnard has applied for a $1-million grant under the program, Police Chief Harold Hurtt said. The grant, which would be matched by city money, would pay for five new police officers in the first year and additional officers afterward, Hurtt said.

Oxnard remains confident of its chances of receiving a grant in the next round of funding in about three months. According to Hurtt, Oxnard has just one officer per 1,000 residents, while Los Angeles has one per 457 and New York has one per 260.

Hurtt said he was concerned that the $4 million Los Angeles received to hire 54 new officers to fight gang crime could make gang problems worse in Ventura.

“I’m worried that they’re going to look for new territory when L. A. puts the pressure on,” Hurtt said. “It happened a few years back when they put the heat on and the Bloods and Crips started springing up all over the country.”

Fillmore will use its $329,867 grant to hire three deputies to work against gang activity, said Lt. Richard Diaz, who heads the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department substation in Fillmore.

The officers will be assigned to foot patrols in the north Fillmore area, where much of the gang activity occurs, Diaz said. The school district, which has a number of gang intervention programs, will be help select deputies for the program.

In addition to Fillmore’s 12.8% unemployment rate, the Justice Department cited a 96% increase in violent crime, and a growing problem with drive-by shootings and gang fights.

“The community and the department have thrown a lot of resources at the gang problem in the last few years, but it’s always been a stretch,” Diaz said. “This is the first time we’ve ever seen this kind of money come our way for more officers. It’s what we need.”

Both Payne and Diaz said Fillmore was a “neat fit” for the federal program, which looks at a number of factors in assessing whether a city needs the grant money.

“About 17% of the families are below the poverty level, 40% of the school population (has) limited English proficiency and 65% qualify for welfare,” the Justice Department said in announcing the award.

Alan C. Miller reported from Washington and Scott Hadly from Ventura.

Help Is on the Way These California cities and counties have been selected to receive Justice Department grants to hire additional police officers.

GRANT OFFICERS DEPARTMENT AMOUNT FUNDED POPULATION Los Angeles $4,000,000 54 3,607,688 Sacramento County $1,929,853 20 667,800 Inglewood $1,000,000 9 109,602 East Palo Alto $898,233 7 23,451 Garden Grove $593,533 6 143,050 Fontana $497,346 5 100,600 Redding $472,315 5 75,000 Moreno Valley $375,000 5 133,706 Fillmore $329,867 3 12,800 Madera $225,000 3 33,027 Manteca $225,000 3 40,004 Santa Cruz $150,000 2 51,458 Fort Bragg $75,000 1 6,233