Cliff Williams After nearly 30 years with the California Highway Patrol, Capt. Cliff Williams says he remembers too many tragedies.

The worst—a car wreck in August 2005 that killed a family of seven—still haunts the 53-year-old Camarillo resident when he drives past the intersection of Hitch Boulevard and Highway 118, in the unincorporated Home Acres area near Moorpark.

“It was the most horrible accident I’ve ever witnessed,” Williams said. “Every day I drive by there. I come into work and I pass that scene. The memories of all these fatal accidents help underscore the need for traffic law enforcement in our communities.”

Williams, who joined the CHP in 1982, has served as commander of the Moorpark Area station since it opened in January 2005. After a law enforcement career throughout California spanning more than three decades, Williams will retire from his post at the end of this month.

And although many of his tragic memories may never leave him, Williams said, he’s proud of spending most of his life serving the community and trying to keep people safe.

Under the captain’s direction, the Moorpark Area CHP has broken records in reducing the number of fatalities in eastern Ventura County.

As of Dec. 1, three people have died in traffic accidents in the Moorpark CHP’s jurisdiction this year, down 67 percent from the nine in 2009, Williams said.

“There are some huge positive changes happening. It’s really a testament to how well the CHP officers here have been doing. I’m very proud of them.”

Change in direction

Before Williams joined the CHP, he was a licensed pilot living in Daly City, a suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“Flying back then, as it is now, was very expensive,” he said. “I was just a struggling pilot trying to figure out how to take these big airplanes out. That was my true love at the time.”

Then one day, when Williams was in the San Carlos airport, he saw a CHP recruitment poster that said the law enforcement agency was looking for pilots. Intrigued by the opportunity, the 24-year-old applied for the position.

He went through the rigorous application process, and from March to August of 1982, Williams was a cadet in the CHP officer’s academy.

“Then I lost interest in flying,” he said. “It seemed like the job of a California Highway Patrol of- ficer was so exciting on the ground that I completely lost interest in the pilot job.”

After graduating from the CHP academy, he was stationed in Redwood City in Northern California.

His goal was to transfer to Ventura County, where, as a boy, he and his family spent joyful summers in Camarillo.

“Every summer I looked forward to coming to Ventura, and I never wanted to go back home where it was cold and foggy,” Williams said. “I promised myself I would move here one day. And in 1984, I did.”

Compassionate leader

Shortly after transferring to the Ventura CHP office in 1984, Williams met fellow officer Fred Baskin, who is now retired.

“We had a good time,” Baskin said. “I would just say that Cliff is known for being very, very thorough through his work, whether it was investigating accidents or making arrests. The thing that kind of epitomizes him is that he always managed to keep a cool, level head.”

Baskin said he was never surprised to hear his friend being promoted up the ranks, first to field supervisor, then to sergeant, lieutenant, and finally to captain.

“He’s the kind of guy that goes out of his way to help people, and is always very generous in the way he treats people,” Baskin said. “I don’t think you could ask for much more than that.

“There are things called the ‘letter of the law’ and the ‘spirit of the law,’ and Cliff always knew how to find common ground between them.”

Williams credits his mother, Lillian, for teaching him about compassion and respect.

“My dad died when I was 16 and my mother took over as a great mentor,” Williams said. “She was always so unselfish, and a very positive influence in my life.”

New chapters

During his career, Williams worked out of several offices in California—in Sacramento, in Malibu, and even at the truck scales on the Conejo Grade portion of the 101 Freeway. He was also a sergeant assigned to South L.A. during the 1992 street riots.

In early 2001, Williams received special assignment to the FBI National Academy, where he spent time touring New York with his family. And 12 days after being promoted to captain in August 2001, the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center occurred.

“That thrust me into a whole new area with the CHP, with the Homeland Security emphasis,” Williams said. “It was a sad and shocking moment for me.”

After the terrorism attack, he decided to pursue a master’s degree in Homeland Security, which he completed this May from the American Military University.

Now that retirement is upon him, Williams said, he’s interested in looking for another career. With no set plan, he said he might pursue employment with Homeland Security, with the county of Ventura, or perhaps in education.

“I’m not too worried about the details,” he said. “It’s kind of exciting to start over again with something else.”

In the meantime, Williams said, he wants to relax and spend quality time with his wife, Liza, and their four children, Alessandra, 23; Cristi-Anne, 21; Cliff, 19; and Katie, 18.