Cape police prepare for improvements

Chief Steve Strong looks at the final draft of a comprehensive study of the Cape Girardeau Police Department like a criminal case.

"We have some guides we go through, numerically assign cases that are more solvable," Strong said. "The higher the number, the harder you work."

That's what he plans to do with recommendations from the final draft of the study, which was released Friday.

"We're going to pour into this study and those things we can change and implement the easiest, that's what we'll start with," he said. "Difficult things will take more time and some things we just have limited or no control over."

Strong received the report Thursday -- a day before the media -- and he said he has read over it. Now he's going to begin studying it in earnest, make copies available to his staff and offices.

The 148-page final report was prepared by the Police Executive Research Forum in Washington, D.C. The report cost $43,569 and was paid for from the city's Cash-Drug Forfeiture Account.

The report says that overall, the department is doing a good job. Generally, the report says, personnel were observed to be proficient and productive. The report said Cape Girardeau officers are dedicated and talented.

The report, however, also cites concerns, such as low salary, poor equipment and shaky morale.

Strong said fiscal issues such as salary increases and better equipment may be hard to address.

Issues like morale, which the report said was more important to officers than money, can be more easily addressed. The report said morale at the department was seriously marred by out-of-touch management.

Some of that may have been addressed with a new police chief, but Strong said it's about perception.

"When you talk about morale, you're talking about perceptions people have," Strong said. "There's even recommendations that deal with the perceptions that people had that would affect morale. There's some recommendations on how to handle that."

Some recommendations may just be ignored, such as the report's suggestion that officers could spend their time better than by doing funeral escorts.

"However, from a practical standpoint, I believe citizens want us to provide that service," he said.

Lt. Carl Kinnison said there was one inaccuracy in the report -- the number of people who left the department over a 13-month period. The report said 47, but Kinnison insisted the number is 19.

"They made all the changes we asked except one," Kinnison said. "And why they didn't change that, I don't know."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137