Simi Officer’s Slaying Shocks Community : Shooting: Michael Clark had reputation as tough, dependable professional with a gift for leadership, say colleagues and neighbors.

Smart, hard-nosed and aggressive, Michael Clark was someone the Los Angeles Police Department hated to lose, and Simi Valley was only too happy to gain.

Simi Valley’s newest cop quickly gained a reputation as a professional, experienced officer who had patrolled rough neighborhoods and could be counted on in a pinch.

And his neighbors in the Moorpark subdivision where he moved after taking the job were so impressed with his assertiveness and community ethic that they elected him to the local homeowners’ association.

So friends, fellow officers and neighbors alike were distressed when Clark--who had seen his share of violence in Los Angeles and left the San Fernando Valley for safer pastures in Ventura County--became the first Simi Valley police officer to die in the line of duty.

“I know a lot of people here in the division tried to talk him into staying because they didn’t want to lose that caliber of an officer,” said Sgt. Kirk Wilder, who worked with Clark at the LAPD’s Devonshire Division. “He was considered an outstanding, aggressive, intelligent and very professional employee. He has many, many close friends here at Devonshire. We’re devastated, obviously.”

Clark, who had begun working as a Simi Valley patrolman about five or six months ago, told friends and neighbors that he loved his new job because of its three-day work week, good pay and friendly atmosphere.

Clark also talked a lot about how his wife and 4-month-old son would benefit from living in peaceful Moorpark.

He recently bought a boat and a Ford pickup truck and was a friendly, visible presence in Moorpark’s Traditions townhouse neighborhood, helping residents with their yardwork and chatting about ways to solve the area’s chronic parking problem, neighbors said.

“We were going to put him on the parking committee, but we didn’t get a chance to tell him,” said fellow board member Chris Madrigal, who often joked with Clark--who always parked his truck beside Madrigal’s house--about the parking problem.

It had been hard for Clark to leave the LAPD, where he worked from 1989 until last December. Clark made many friends and established himself as an officer to be admired, a fellow officer said. But the promise of higher pay and the allure of a better quality of life eventually won over Clark, who remained in contact with his friends on the LAPD.

“It was very difficult for him to go to the smaller department,” said LAPD Sgt. Bill Thomas. “It’s unreal--to leave here and go to Simi Valley, a smaller, slower police department, and end up the first casualty.”

“He was an excellent officer, highly professional, eager to do a good job and always one you could depend on,” Wilder added.

Although he had only been with the Simi Valley police a few months, Clark’s new co-workers said he impressed them with his dedication to police work, and they were devastated to learn he had been shot.

Members of Simi Valley city government, who are proud of their city’s reputation as a commuter haven for crime-weary Angelenos and Los Angeles police officers, were distraught after hearing of Clark’s death.

“It’s hard when [we lose] any member of the city family like this,” City Manager Mike Sedell said. “ . . . There’s a lot of emotion, disappointment and hurt.”

Times staff writer Tracy Wilson and correspondent Paul Elias contributed to this report.

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