Hiring Grants Offered; Local Police May Pass : Law enforcement: Six county agencies are given the chance to add officers under Clinton anti-crime program. But officials say they may not be able to match funds.

Six Ventura County police departments have been offered up to $1.1 million in federal money to hire a total of 15 additional officers as part of President Clinton’s $30-billion anti-crime package.

But some local police officials say the federal program requires them to match funds--and despite an urgent need for more officers, they may not be able to pay their part.

Police agencies in Ventura, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Camarillo, along with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, were notified Monday that they may begin recruiting new officers while their grant applications are awaiting approval.

The money comes from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Cops Ahead program, in which up to $225 million in grants will be made available to state, local and other law enforcement departments serving populations of 50,000 and over.

Under the program, a police department receives a grant for up to 75% of an officer’s total salary and benefits, not to exceed $75,000 per officer for three years.

To receive the funds, the state or local law enforcement agency must agree to match that amount by at least $25,000 per officer for the three years, and that may reduce the number of local departments that take part.

For instance, starting salary for a police officer in Simi Valley is about $36,000, so the city would have to ante up $11,000 in salary, plus benefits, Sgt. Gary Collins said.

The Simi Valley Police Department has received the federal go-ahead to hire three new officers, but Lt. Tony Harper said police officials are trying to determine if the program is worth participating in.

“We simply sent the letter of intent to see what the program would offer,” Harper said. “Now we have to see if we want to take part.”

There are 105 sworn police officers in the Simi Valley department--an increase of about six in the past two years, Collins said.

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The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department probably will not take advantage of the grant to hire two new deputies because the county cannot match funds, said Undersheriff Dick Bryce.

“We are not optimistic at all that the (Ventura County Board of Supervisors) will come up with the rest of the grant money,” Bryce said.

Although the department added 120 new deputy positions this year to staff the new county jail, bringing the total to 675 sworn officers, it is still understaffed, he said.

The Ventura Police Department also is unsure if it will use the federal grant money to hire three more police officers, but Lt. Steve Bowman said police officials are eager to see if the grants are as good as they sound.

Bowman said the force has been cut from 123 in 1993 to 116 today, and more officers are desperately needed.

“We’re certainly not going to pass up any opportunities to add some more police officers, but at this point we’re still trying to determine the costs for us,” Bowman said. “We’re eager to find out about this and how it can benefit us.”

The Thousand Oaks Police Department was offered money for two officers and the Camarillo Police Department was offered funding for one. Both contract for patrol services with the Sheriff’s Department.

The Oxnard Police Department--one of the most understaffed police forces of its size in the nation--was offered money for four new officers. Police officials did not return calls for comment Monday.

The county police departments were among 631 jurisdictions nationwide that were offered funds to hire up to 4,688 officers--part of Clinton’s pledge to put 100,000 new officers on the streets. The latest round of federally assisted hires would raise the total to about 9,500 new officers.

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Law enforcement agencies serving areas with populations of fewer than 50,000, such as the Santa Paula Police Department, are eligible for a separate program titled Cops Fast and must submit applications before Dec. 31.

But Cmdr. Mark Hanson of Santa Paula said the little department has been snubbed several times while vying for its share of crime bill money, adding that the grants being offered are small and not worth the hassle.

“I think we’re just going to pass on that because, frankly, we couldn’t do much with that little money anyway,” Hanson said. “It’s a waste of our time.”

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