BOYD SEES NEED FOR DETECTIVES; CHIEF WOULD LIKE TO ADD TWO TO THE FORCE

When it comes to the number of detectives needed for Cape Girardeau criminal cases, Police Chief Howard "Butch" Boyd and the recession are at odds.

From a practical standpoint, Boyd said he needs to add two detectives to the 10 the department has. But the recession is doing its best to keep Boyd from getting them.

"The one driving need I think we can justify now is we need more detectives working criminal cases," said Boyd. "Many of the investigations are very complex and take a great deal of time.

"We have been inundated with child-abuse complaints either beatings or of the sexual nature that we coordinate with other agencies. That almost takes one person full time just to handle those types of cases."

Last month city officials announced they would eliminate a dozen city positions at the beginning of the city's fiscal year on July 1 as part of a reorganization effort to save personnel costs. Three of the positions are held by longtime police officers.

City officials said they are reorganizing because city sales tax revenue has leveled off.

Since 1987, the Cape Girardeau Police Department's number of detective cases cleared has fallen each year. The numbers have dropped from 1,213 to 744 in 1991, police reported.

The number of cases cleared in 1991 amounted to 35 percent of the total number of detective cases reviewed, or 2,159. That compares with a 35 percent clearance rate for 2,187 cases in 1990; 47 percent for 2,029 cases in 1989; 58 percent for 1,984 cases in 1988; and 51 percent for 2,363 cases in 1987.

Assistant City Manager Al Stoverink said city officials hope in the long run to add more police officers to the city's streets. Included in that would be detectives, he said.

The intent of city officials, he said, is to add the personnel when they see an upturn in the economy.

Stoverink said: "I think we're looking at another year from now. We're hoping the economy will turn around this coming year, and that in the fiscal year beginning in 1993 we would be in a position to do that."

Stoverink said until recently, when the city's May sales tax check came in, he was a little more optimistic about the city's fiscal matters. The check actually for sales in March was the lowest since May 1989.

Boyd said he didn't have an answer for why the department's detective division cleared so high a percentage of cases in 1987 while at the same time reviewing more cases than in other years.

Boyd said he believes crack has had a significant impact on the city's crime rate in the last year. "It's been around, but not in the magnitude that it's now showing up in the community," he said of the drug.

Though the department now has 10 detectives, Boyd pointed out that many of the detectives have supervisory or specialized duty areas such as handling drug cases. That leaves just three detectives for general assignment and that's not enough, he said.

Boyd said the department is unable to pull any patrol officers off the street and use them as detectives because the department's calls for service keep increasing.

"We just go from call to call to call."

In 1991 the department handled 27,340 events, up from 19,803 in 1987, shows the department's 1991 annual report. The numbers do not include traffic stops, assistance to motorists, or other officer-initiated activities.

The number of city child-abuse complaints and cases involving crack over the last few years were unavailable from the department Thursday. Police Sgt. Carl Kinnison said the department did not break down its drug cases by the type of drug involved.

Boyd said the increase in the number of child-abuse complaints filed with the department has taken place over the past two or three years.