Cape police, CTA implement Watch on Wheels to help combat crime

Local transit drivers are encouraged to report suspicious activities as part of Watch on Wheels (WOW), a new rolling crime watch partnership between the Cape Girardeau Police Department and the transit authority.

The WOW program officially kicks off today, police said.

It is the first such program in Missouri, but has been used successfully in Denver, according to Tom Mogelnicki, executive director of the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority (CTA), and Cape Girardeau police chief Wes Blair.

Mogelnicki said Cape Girardeau police approached him about starting a similar program here.

Blair, who led the effort to establish the program, said, �I am really excited about it.�

CTA drivers participate in a training for the new Watch on Wheels program Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

He called it �a neighborhood watch on wheels.� He added �this really makes sense to do.�

Mogelnicki said the CTA wants to �help the community be safe.�

The transit service operates 24 hours a day, six days a week and part of the day Sunday, Mogelnicki said.

The service employs nearly 70 drives and dispatchers, he said.

�I think we can be the eyes for the community and the police department,� he said. �We are out at night when a lot of stuff happens.�

CTA drivers participate in a training for the new Watch on Wheels program Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

Blair said Southeast Missouri State University�s psychology department stepped in to help train CTA employees to participate in WOW.

CTA drivers and dispatchers with CTA underwent training Tuesday, conducted by police Lt. Brad Smith and Southeast industrial/organizational psychology graduate students Bryan Fink and Jennifer Blair, wife of the police chief.

During the second of three training sessions, Fink encouraged drivers to be �the eyes and ears of Cape Girardeau� and report suspicious activities to police.

Jennifer Blair told them, �You want to trust your gut a lot of times.�

Context matters, she said. A person sitting in a parked car with the lights off on a residential street at night may be suspicious while a parked car along a street during the day would not raise concern, Blair said.

Smith told the drivers, �You see a fight, call us.�

If a transit driver sees someone leave the scene of an accident, he or she should call police, Smith added.

Smith said some reported incidents may turn out not to be criminal in nature. But Smith said he would �rather take a whole day of nothing calls� than have one incident go unnoticed that might help solve a crime.

�You guys watch people everyday,� Smith told the group.

Smith said the transit vehicles have video cameras, which could record a particular incident. Police then could review that video if alerted by transit drivers and dispatchers, he said.

He told the CTA workers their safety is important to police. Drivers should not stop if they see suspicious activities, but continue on their routes and report the incidents to the CTA dispatcher or directly to police.

Smith advised drivers to pull up to the police station if they have passengers who are causing trouble.

Drivers often overhear the conversations of passengers, Smith said. If they hear comments regarding criminal activity, they should contact police, he said.

Smith advised drivers to take note of what people are wearing, the type and color of vehicle and anything that looks out of place.

In addition to receiving information from drivers, Smith said police will inform the CTA of missing children or suspects or vehicles they are seeking.

�You guys are literally out there more than we are,� Smith said.

Transit driver Linda Williams welcomed the program.

�It is a very good idea,� she said.

Williams said she and other drivers are observant of people and their surroundings.

But in the past, drivers may have been reluctant to report suspicious activities to police, she said. �Sometimes, we think we are bothering an officer.�

After Tuesday�s training, Williams said she feels �more comfortable� about reporting suspicious activities.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641