Speak no evil

It's part of the code of the streets. "Don't Snitch."

A mantra that prevents witnesses and victims of crimes from coming forward and threatens vengeance on those who cooperate with police in any way.

Glorified by gangsters, rappers and even athletes, it boils down to an "us vs. them," mentality. Better to rely on vigilante justice than the men in blue, say many in America's innercities.

This trend was documented on a recent edition of CBS's "60 Minutes" and it's alive and well in Cape Girardeau.

On March 26, a man and woman arrived at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Both had been shot, but offered differing accounts of the incident. Officers canvassed the 900 block of William Street, where the shooting occurred in broad daylight. Many could have witnessed the crime, but no one saw anything.

On April 16, a Cape Girardeau teen was shot in the buttocks on Hanover Street. Uncooperative with police, it took a full day before he agreed to identify his assailant from a lineup. Police pieced together the case largely on their own.

"We deal with this all the time. ... People have been shot, and we can't pry information out of them. We're working with a number of people in the community and adults to use leverage to convince kids this is not the way to live life," police chief Carl Kinnison said.

One man who knows the pain of the "don't snitch" creed all too well is Sgt. Kevin Orr. On July 4, 2005, the Cape Girardeau police officer and his partner responded to a fireworks call in the 400 block of South Hanover Street.

While attempting to arrest someone with a backpack full of fireworks, Orr was struck in the face by a man wielding a metal object. Even though a crowd of more than 60 people witnessed the assault, no one agreed to testify. Most said they didn't see anything at all.

"It's frustrating that you know there's people out there that see things, and they don't come forward. You have people who want their community to be better, but how can it be better if they're not willing to step up and take ownership," Orr said.

Today Orr suffers from trauma-induced migraines, hearing, sight and memory loss connected with the attack. He works a desk job in charge of the traffic division instead of patrolling the streets.

Justice also suffered. It took an anonymous phone call to ID the man who hit him. Although Orr could positively identify his attacker, the 18-year-old man eventually pleaded guilty to "resisting arrest" after a hung jury could not convict him at trial. Vague and inconsistent testimony was cited.

The criminal served six months in the county jail, is back on the streets and has had further run-ins with the law.

"This prevailing attitude of not talking to the police, I just don't know how this has ever gotten to the point that it has. This is never going to make things right. It's never going to make things better," Orr said.

If the younger generation is an indicator, there's a lot of work to be done. On Tuesday at Indian Park, I asked Dominic Reynolds, a smiling, friendly 14-year-old, whether he would ever cooperate with police if he saw a crime.

"If something happened, I just couldn't snitch. I don't like snitches. I wouldn't do it," he said. "It's going to get taken care of anyway. Let people take care of it themselves."

TJ Greaney is a staff reporter for the Southeast Missourian.