More needs to be done to address violent crime

Cape Girardeau police chief Wes Blair dropped some disturbing information on the Cape Girardeau City Council last week.

Even though all crimes dropped 4.62 percent, violent crime was way up in the city.

According to reporting by Mark Bliss, rapes jumped from 11 in 2016 to 23 last year, an increase of more than 109 percent. The number of cases of robbery with a firearm increased from 17 to 27, a jump of nearly 59 percent. Assaults with a firearm went up from 32 in 2016 to 47 last year. Car thefts were up. Arsons were up. Drug cases were up.

In a recent interview with the Southeast Missourian editorial board, city manager Scott Meyer said dealing with the violent crime issue was the problem that kept him up at night.

Blair told the council, “I think the violent crime thing is concerning to us.”

The number of crime incidents (3,101) in Cape Girardeau’s Ward 2 is almost double that of any other ward (Ward 6 had 1,659).

This crime data is troubling, indeed.

We’ve been encouraged in the past that more people in Cape Girardeau’s south side are becoming engaged, and maybe that’s a part of us seeing more arrests, because there’s been more cooperation. Still, clearly, more needs to be done. Here’s hoping that planned efforts to address certain issues in Cape Girardeau’s roughest neighborhoods take hold and we see these violent crime numbers drop.