NEW CHIEF TAKES HELM AT DEPARTMENT LEWIS MEETS WITH OFFICERS, COUNCIL MEMBERS.

Byline: ERIC LEACH Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY -- Mike Lewis has worked as a jail supervisor, on the SWAT team and with helicopter crews rescuing flood victims, and he has served as police chief in Moorpark and Camarillo.

Now he's all ears as he starts his new job as chief of the Simi Valley Police Department.

``I have spent the whole week in what I call a listening mode,'' he said this week while getting to know his new staff.

He has met with officers and members of the City Council and will soon be going into the community to meet leaders of various agencies and community groups, including the Simi Valley Unified School District and the local Chamber of Commerce.

``I'm listening to what they feel the Police Department's goals should be to educate myself on the operation and expectations for the Police Department, and I want to establish relationships,'' said Lewis, who began the $159,800-a-year job Sept. 25.

When he was selected in August, he said he already knew Simi Valley police had ``great support from the residents, business and the City Council, and I look forward to establishing a personal partnership with community leaders and elected officials.''

Councilman Glen Becerra, who has talked with Lewis about Simi Valley's law enforcement needs, said he believes the new chief already appreciates the area's diversity and wants to learn more.

``Simi Valley is a diverse community,'' Becerra said, citing areas of high-density apartments, ranch-like homes and people of various economic backgrounds.

``That is very important, and Simi Valley needs to have a police chief who understands what it is going to take to keep the different communities safe. There are different pockets that are going to require different approaches.''

Lewis, 53, holds a master's degree in public administration from California State University, Northridge, and spent 28 years with the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.

During that career he was head of the sheriff's professional standards bureau and chief of the Moorpark and Camarillo police departments, which are operated on a contract-basis.

Lewis said because Simi Valley is a larger city and because its Police Department is an independent agency, it's about three times larger than the organization he commanded as chief in Camarillo.

Simi Valley has a population of about 125,000 and a police force of 125 officers. It has had its own department since 1971, and along with neighboring Thousand Oaks has a reputation as one of the safest cities per capita in the nation with a population of more than 100,000.

``Many of (the Simi Valley police officers) have been here 10, 15 and 20 years,'' Lewis said. ``Morale is very high. It's a well-run organization.''

These officers have offered suggestions about how things can be improved, but he's heard no major gripes, Lewis said.

``I've received a very warm reception from all of the employees,'' he said. ``It's not like a stranger is coming in and, `What is he going to do to us?' It's been very encouraging.''

Lewis started working in 1976 as a reserve officer with the Sheriff's Department and liked the job because he enjoyed working with people and felt he could help make a difference in their lives.

He said people who live in this area are fortunate because of the relatively low crime rate, and most people support their local police agencies.

But he said he wants to do more to help people realize that the police and citizens of Simi Valley are partners in fighting crime.

``Sometimes people become complacent and don't lock their doors,'' he said. ``They forget to close their garage doors with a couple of 10-speed bikes sitting there. They leave their laptops in plain view in their cars. The safe environment and safe feeling of this community sometimes works against us, in that people aren't sometimes exercising common-sense crime prevention.''

eric.leach(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

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(1 -- color) MIKE LEWIS

(2) New Simi Valley Chief of Police Mike Lewis looks on as Elizabeth May takes a call at the Simi Valley Police Station.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer