Hanover Street: Neighbors, police work to get rid of thugs

The law-abiding people who live on Hanover Street in Cape Girardeau are frustrated by the one-way direction their street appears to be heading. That would be south.

The street has grabbed headlines recently with shootings, the first on Nov. 2 when a 27-year-old man was shot in his right thigh, apparently the result of an ongoing altercation that began a week earlier at a dance hall.

The second occurred Nov. 3. Police responded to a report of gunfire at South Hanover and Bloomfield streets.

A day later, police were again called to the neighborhood for a shooting on Bloomfield near Hanover where a 27-year-old man was injured by a bullet that passed through his arm and lodged in his hip.

This type of violence has angered residents on the street. Their anger is justified. They have seen many similar incidents on a regular basis, and it has raised their awareness.

Some of them say they have tried to no avail to curb the problem of large outdoor gatherings before it escalated. But as police point out, in the United States residents have the right to assemble peacefully. The police are prevented in many cases from taking action until the violence has taken place. Police have been more active in their patrols of the area, but many residents who live in the neighborhood live in fear.

It doesn't seem fair that a small group of thugs should be able to have this heavy an influence over a street and section of town. But it will be vital for those who care to continue to be vigilant and for the police to take appropriate action to clean up the neighborhood as much as possible.

We hope that the worst is over, at least for now. And we wish the neighborhood and police officers the best in trying to get the situation under control.