Cape reserve officers perform valuable service to city

A state law that requires volunteer police officers to have the same qualifications as full-time, paid policemen is making it tough to recruit new reserves. But local reserve members say they make up for quantity with quality.

While the ranks of Cape Girardeau's reserve police force have shrunk over the years from a high of about 50 to a dozen or so, the force has become more specialized.

Cape Girardeau's auxiliary force was organized in the 1950s as a civil defense unit. In 1961, it became the police reserve division.

That was the year young Al Moore enlisted as a reserve officer. He soon joined the regular police force.

With more than 40 years of law enforcement under his belt, Moore is commander of the reserve unit. He retired after 35 years as a Cape Girardeau police officer and now works full time with Southeast Missouri State University's Department of Public Safety.

He says a great deal has changed since he first donned a uniform.

When he started, the police department aimed recruiting at married men in their late 20s and early 30s who were considered more stable and therefore more likely to do a good job.

An officer's shift was 28 days on duty and five days off. "The law was whatever you were big enough to enforce," said the strapping, 6-foot-2 Moore.

At that time a reserve officer was a young man trying to decide whether he was suited to become a policeman.

Higher standards

With the training requirement of 120 hours in the classroom, the reserve unit was the farm team for the city police department. In 1994, the training requirement was raised to 420 hours in the classroom. But in 2000, a new pre-certification law required reserve police officers to undergo the same testing, background checks and licensing exam as a full-time police officer, all of which volunteers paid for themselves.

The current roster of police reservists is made up of seasoned officers who together donated more than 1,000 hours in labor to the police department last year. The youngest is 32, the oldest 61.

They include a university professor, a canine specialist, an insurance investigator, two former state liquor control agents, two security experts as well as former detectives and patrolmen.

Their wide-ranging activities include security at fairs, parades and crime scenes. They also patrol and work on specific projects.

At least once a month they ride patrol with officers and sometimes fill shifts for people who call in sick. Sometimes they are called to lend their expertise in sting operations.

"I've got a highly-qualified group here," Moore said. With various backgrounds, their love of law enforcement is the common denominator, he said.

Reserve officer Mike Brown, a professor with Southeast Missouri State University's criminal justice department, was a police officer in the early 1970s in Wichita, Kan. Being a reservist helps him as an educator, he said.

"It's important to me in my line of work to keep apprised of what officers are dealing with," Brown said.

Another reason he enjoys being part of the reserve force is many of the officers he works with were once his students.

Bonds for a lifetime

Bruce Baker, 32, was still a college student when he became a deputy for the Scott County Sheriff's Department. Later he joined the Missouri Department of Liquor Control.

He spent 11 years as a law enforcement officer before he decided to pursue a more lucrative career. Now he manages Prestige Enterprises, a contracting company owned by Kenny Pincksten, a former state liquor control agent.

The company lays cable for telephone and other businesses.

But neither could accept a life completely away from law enforcement, so both Baker and Pincksten, 38, joined Cape Girardeau's reserve unit early this year.

Pincksten, who spent 15 years as a peace officer, said law enforcement is a profession that can't be given up easily.

He compared the profession to teaching: Either you love it, or you don't do it. Lifetime bonds are made on the force and those ties are strong, he said.

"Some of my closest friends are in the law enforcement area," he said.

Pincksten said a recent donation his business made to help Cape Girardeau police officers purchase new shotguns was an effort to help keep morale up.

It's important to let them know they are appreciated, he said.

"It's one of the most thankless occupations," he said. "Most of the people you deal with don't care a whole lot for you"

abuchanan@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160