Santa Paula Police Say Their Low Pay Is a Crime

Santa Paula police are the lowest-paid cops in Ventura County.

How low?

Their pay is so low that street cops at other county law enforcement agencies make more money than Santa Paula’s sergeants.

To compare apples and apples, officers at other agencies are paid an average of 34% more in salary and benefits than Santa Paula officers, according to a study by the police union.

A Santa Paula officer who’s been on the job four years makes about $41,500 annually. The next lowest-paid officers in the county are in Port Hueneme, where a similar cop makes $44,000.

Oxnard and Simi Valley police earn about $52,000, and the same package for sheriff’s deputies and Ventura police officers is worth about $53,000.

The Santa Paula force has been without a contract for 18 months, and resentful cops have taken to posting signs on their beats warning drivers they are entering a city riddled with crime.

Next, they plan to set up tables outside grocery stores and plead with the public for support.

They can’t strike. It’s against the law, for public safety reasons.

A state mediator arrives this week to help broker a deal with the city.

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A 2-year-old girl can thank Simi Valley Police Officer Daniel Gonzales for the life he breathed into her.

The toddler was found by her mother floating face down in the pool.

Gonzales was a few blocks away when he heard the call.

In 57 seconds, he was performing CPR on a lifeless little body sprawled on the deck.

The officer had lost a drowning victim once before, so he worked with special urgency.

“When I first got there, she was purple and I thought this was going to be another one,” he said.

Finally, the youngster coughed and convulsed and threw up water. She’s since made a full recovery.

“I don’t have any kids myself, but I can think about how I would feel if it were my niece or nephew,” Gonzales said. “It brought tears to my eyes.”

After three little ones between the ages of 15 months and 4 years old died last summer in accidental drownings, the county Fire Department started “WATCH,” a pool safety program.

Call 389-9769 for tips on how to prevent such a tragedy.

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Detectives have arrested a Moorpark woman who allegedly begged, borrowed and stole more than $100,000 during the last year to support a nasty slots habit in Vegas.

Benilda Olivo, 51, spent several months befriending three women and spinning a tale of intricate lies, Sheriff’s Det. Robert Thomas said.

She lived with a Camarillo woman for a while, stole her Social Security and driver’s license numbers, and then obtained five credit cards in the victim’s name, the cop said.

Olivo ran up about $50,000 in charges for airline tickets, motels bills, jewelry and in cash advances, Thomas said. At one time, she was $20,000 up on the Vegas slots, but then lost all of it.

Olivo also became friends with two women in Lancaster.

She told them she’d won $20 million in the state lottery and was waiting for her payments, she just needed to borrow money in the interim to help her sick mother and brother in the Philippines.

The victims handed over $65,000, believing it would come back to them twofold, Thomas said. Olivo allegedly took the money and ran.

“It’s sad,” Thomas said. “But people need to be more careful.”

Olivo was in jail Sunday in lieu of $80,000 bail.

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While the cops in Santa Paula fight City Hall, some residents are putting their own bodies on the line to fight crime.

Two teenagers who tried to steal a 1998 Ford Escort were thwarted by a mother and her two daughters, one seven months pregnant, police said.

The vehicle, owned by the mother’s roommate, was parked in front of the victims’ home on Warren Avenue. The teens allegedly used a stolen key to get inside the car and start it.

They couldn’t get far, though, because of a lock on the steering wheel, police said.

When the woman and her daughters heard the engine start, they called 911, ran outside and surrounded the vehicle.

The 17-year-old pregnant daughter was dragged several feet when she grabbed the driver by the collar and he accelerated, police said.

Her 14-year-old sister was scraped up when she was hit while trying to block the car. Their 39-year-old mother was knocked unconscious, hitting her head on concrete.

The suspects fled on foot but were picked up by police several hours later.

The victims were treated at a local hospital and released.

“I think it’s best to be a good witness but to try not to get hurt,” said Santa Paula Police Sgt. Ish Cordero.

Good advice.