As temperatures heat up, so do area crime rates

Crime has a tendency to escalate, as more people tend to spend time outdoors and young people may be home from school with nothing to do.

"You get a lot more outdoor peace disturbances in the summer because you have more people gathering outside," said Cpl. Jason Selzer, spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

Break-ins occur fairly steadily throughout the year, but sometimes pick up slightly during the summer, Selzer said.

Thefts, especially gas station drive-offs, also tend to be a little more concentrated during warmer weather, though last year's numbers actually showed more gasoline thefts in Cape Girardeau than so far in 2008.

There were 54 gas station drive-offs reported during January and 39 in February of last year, and 72 in May and 54 in June. So far this year, there were 30 reports of gasoline theft in January, 39 in February, 54 in May and only 17 so far in June, Selzer said.

Though crime statistics are not yet compiled for 2008, there were 230 property crimes in May 2007 in Cape Girardeau, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and 247 reported in June. In January, only 174 were reported, and 146 in February.

More thefts were reported in the summer as well, and violent crimes more than doubled, from 22 in January and February, to 46 in May and June.

At a Neighborhood Connections meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Broadway Books and Roasting Co., Cape Girardeau police officer Richard Couch instructed residents on measures they can take to assist police when calling to report suspicious activity in the community.

First, Couch advised someone filing a complaint to try to remain calm and do their best to describe the incident in as much detail as possible.

Writing things down while observing suspicious behavior was often helpful in being able to furnish police with specific details, such as what the suspect was wearing, or their direction of travel if they fled the scene.

Couch said he always keeps a pad next to the radio in his patrol vehicle.

"Writing it down will help you if called to testify. That way you'll be able to speak intelligently about the incident," Couch said.

Couch said the police must establish reasonable suspicion to be able to lawfully detain someone, but at the very least, a call of suspicious activity will allow them to make contact with the subject.

"We can't see everything -- there's no way," Couch said. "It takes a concerted effort on everyone's part. You may be seeing something we have no knowledge of," he said.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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