Cape Girardeau police officers in training to combat terrorism

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, steps have been taken to increase security and awareness across the nation, and the same is no less true in Southeast Missouri.

"People may think we're in Cape Girardeau and terrorism will not affect us, but that is not necessarily the case," said Lt. Tracy Lemonds of the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

"The pilots in the attacks had apartments in Delray Beach, Fla., which is a community the size of Cape Girardeau. You never know how terrorism can touch your community."

Local law enforcement is paying more attention to the city's water treatment plant, the Federal Building on Broadway and the Mississippi River Bridge, said police Capt. Carl Kinnison. Although officers do not patrol the bridge, they do visual checks of the structure and watch for anything out of the ordinary, he said.

In response to the nation's escalating concerns about terrorism, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered each of the 93 U.S. Attorney's Offices on Sept. 17, 2001, to organize an anti-terrorism network within 24 hours.

Attended first meeting

Lemonds is a member of the Anti-Terrorism Task Force Eastern District of Missouri. The day after the decree from Ashcroft, Lemonds went to St. Louis for the district's first ATTF meeting. The group has about 60 people from 30 different federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Four eastern Missouri cities have representatives in the ATTF: Cape Girardeau, St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles.

Lemonds said the biggest advantage of belonging to the ATTF is better communication between agencies.

"This has allowed me to develop professional friendships with the other federal agencies that don't have resident offices here that this department would not ordinarily come into contact with," Lemonds said. "It's really opened a door as far as information is concerned. So, if we do have a problem in southeast Missouri, we'll be able to cut through a lot of red tape and, hopefully, get a quicker response."

The ATTF meets monthly, and members develop contingency plans and hear presentations on emergency response and the latest information on terrorism.

Members can participate in subcommittees to learn the about cyber, domestic and international terrorism.

In July, a few Cape Girardeau officers attended an ATTF exercise at the Veiled Prophet Fair in St. Louis, where they were shown a scenario of a possible terrorist attack and observed how St. Louis' police department handled the fictional event.

Last month, Lemonds attended the ATTF Midwest Regional Conference in Denver, Co., with about 300 other law enforcement officers. The conference was held by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Education. While there, the officers were presented with case studies on chemical and biological weapons, terrorism financing, domestic terrorism, and a little of what Lemonds called "al-Qaida 101" training.

Training newsletter

One of the ideas Lemonds brought back from the conference will be incorporated in the police department's weekly training newsletter. The training information for this month will educate officers about middle eastern culture, with advice on speaking with a Muslim and tips on how to avoid saying something inappropriate or insulting by mistake.

Lemonds is quick to point out that the terrorists who attacked on Sept. 11 represent a very small faction of Islamic extremists.

Since becoming involved with the ATTF and taking time to learn more about the Islamic faith, Lemonds said he has developed a fascination and respect for the millions of people who practice it.

The information the ATTF is disseminating was designed to prepare agencies for terrorist acts and act as a preventative to the loss of lives and property, he said.

"We want to be prepared, but we don't want to be alarmists," Lemonds said. "We just want our officers to be aware of certain things."

BIOTERRORISM EXPERT

This year 27 new positions were formed in Missouri to assist local agencies in responding to bioterrorism emergencies and to educate others about the issue.

Linda Doerge is the regional public health emergency response planner for Bollinger, Stoddard, Madison and Cape Girardeau Counties.

According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, these planners will work with public and private health systems to ensure they can effectively handle the capacity of a large scale public health emergency or terrorist act, that duplication of effort and expertise is minimized and that responders have all the information necessary when faced with a potential threat.

Doerge is based out of the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Department office. She will evaluate county response plans and work with response agencies to develop better contingency plans.