Cape officers on foot patrol a block from weekend murder

When an argument escalated to violence and a man was shot to death downtown Saturday morning, Cape Girardeau police officers were nearby on foot patrol and were able to respond almost immediately to the scene, public-information officer Sgt. Joey Hann said Monday.

“Actually, officers were on foot just a little over a block away and were flagged down by someone coming from that scene,” Hann said.

The foot patrols, which began in 2016 and are conducted most Fridays and Saturdays from about 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., are made possible through funds from the city’s Community Improvement District, which uses tax dollars to help make the downtown area safer and more vibrant.

The goal of the patrols, Hann said, is “to be as visible as possible and to be mobile and make [the officers’] presence known as much as possible in that downtown district.”

The CID, which is directed by a seven-person board chaired by Bruce Skinner, contracts with Old Town Cape to implement a variety of initiatives focused on safety, beautification and vibrancy, explained Old Town Cape executive director Marla Mills on Monday in a phone interview.

“Twenty percent of all CID revenue goes toward safety,” she said, adding in addition to foot patrols, the safety budget has also funded the installation of video cameras downtown police can utilize.

The shooting and the altercation leading up to it Saturday were captured on video, but Hann declined to say whether the camera that later provided the evidence was one of the four CID-sponsored cameras or whether it belonged to a business near where the shooting occurred outside 2 N. Main Street.

Hann did, however, say the cameras are a considerable help to law enforcement in addition to the existing security cameras outside private businesses.

Speaking of the Community Improvement District, Hann said “the program has been something we have found to be a great partnership.” He said the foot patrols, especially, help to increase safety.

“It’s hard to draw exact data, but I’d say there’s a correlation, having an officer immediately available in that downtown area has likely deterred crimes,” Hann said. “And I would also have to say that it also probably keeps people who may be in the middle of a verbal fight calm down before it becomes a crime.”

Mills echoed that sentiment and said the CID is committed to providing the resources to enable police to do foot patrols every weekend as much as possible, since the program is structured as a volunteer shift and thus is dependent upon existing police scheduling and resources. She said they are also working toward funding more surveillance cameras.

“It’s a great program,” she said.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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