AREA NOT IMMUNE FROM VIOLENCE, BUT PROTECTED

The arrival in Jackson two weeks ago of a car full of Laotian gang members is a stark reminder that even small towns are not immune from the criminal violence so common in urban areas. These Laotian punks, from Rockford, Ill., are rough characters, well known to police there.

What began as a routine stop of speeders on Interstate 55 turned quickly into one of the most harrowing incidents in the history of Cape Girardeau County. A high-speed chase ensued in which a highway patrol cruiser was rammed by the suspects, before slamming into another motorist's car and coming to a stop at the busy intersection of Highway 61 and Donna Drive. The gang members in the fleeing car quickly scattered, while one, armed with a MAC II automatic pistol, tried to load it and point it at the highway patrolman, who repeatedly warned him to drop it. When this warning went unheeded, the patrolman opened fire, hitting the armed suspect three times in the chest and wounding him critically. After an hour's search, the other suspects were rounded up without incident.

Involved in helping restore order were the Jackson and Cape Girardeau police departments, the Cape and Bollinger County sheriff's departments, the Missouri Highway Patrol and the FBI. It is to the everlasting credit of these law enforcement professionals that they handled this extremely dangerous situation with crisp authority and dispatch. It is a sad day when any law enforcement professional faces no choice but to use deadly force to subdue an armed suspect who menaces the entire community. But when that day comes, we are grateful that there are highly trained pros such as the ones who descended on Jackson on that sunny Friday afternoon in late August.

An interesting footnote is that there were more than a few law-abiding Cape Countians who had no intention of being victims that day. During the time the suspects were on the loose, these folks were following reports of the pursuit and arming themselves with legal weapons. It was the Second Amendment at work.

If this is Sunday, and a new workweek beckons, can a fresh outrage from Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders be far off? Sadly, no. One of Dr. Elders' latest contributions to the public discourse came in the sad aftermath of her son's conviction for felony sale of cocaine to an undercover officer. The young man's conviction in a Little Rock court recently earned him a mandatory 10-year sentence.

Testifying in court for her son's freedom, Dr. Elders was asked whether her son was likely to commit more crimes. "I don't feel that was a crime," she told the judge who presided over a courtroom full of astonished listeners. This led deputy prosecutor Chris Palmer to observe, "I was surprised that someone in her position would make a comment like that."

Those who have followed Dr. Elders' public comments somewhat closer, perhaps, than the prosecutor, will be less surprised. The mystery is why the president keeps around a loose cannon like Dr. Elders, whose bizarre pronouncements must cause the grown-ups in the Clinton White House to cringe.

As this is written, with two aircraft carriers and 20,000 troops poised for attack, President Clinton has dispatched to Haiti a three-member delegation that will represent his final effort to avert armed conflict. Leaving for the Caribbean Saturday were former President Jimmy Carter, former joint chiefs chairman Colin Powell and Senate Armed Services Chairman Sam Nunn. We take a dim view of the president's planned invasion of this pathetic island nation.

But his dispatch of these high-level emissaries is a sound move. Let's hope Gen. Cedras, the Haitian military dictator who has supposedly agreed to meet them, will heed their warnings and stand down from armed conflict.