Chief Blair: Major crime in Cape down nearly 11% in 2022 compared to 2021

Cape Girardeau police Chief Wes Blair touted the success of community engagement and force multipliers as he reported both cases and calls for service were down last year.

Blair presented a 2022 annual report before Cape Girardeau City Council members Monday, March 20. The report showed calls for service — ShotSpotter alerts included — dropped 5% in 2022 and cases fell 9% compared to the previous year.

Group A offenses — assaults, homicides, burglaries, sex offenses, kidnapping, among other things — in the National Incident-Bases Reporting System — a crime database from the FBI — were down 10.9% in 2022 compared to 2021.

The following changes occurred in these specific incidents from 2021 to 2022:

• Homicides rose from three to four.
• Robberies fell from 21 to nine.
• Arson fell from 18 to seven.
• Assaults increased from 421 to 447.
• Kidnappings rose from four to eight.
• Sex offenses fell from 61 to 43.
• Drug offenses fell from 351 to 263.
• Theft fell from 925 to 825.
• Weapons violations rose from 186 to 193.

Since 2013, major crimes — murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary and motor vehicle theft — have fallen 44% in Cape Girardeau. Blair said the city has stayed in step with national trends as violent crime continues to fall nationally.

The numbers cast a somewhat stark contrast with the attitudes of many citizens, Councilman Robbie Guard said. The councilman asked Blair why the divide exists between stats and citizen opinions. Blair chalked it up mainly to social media.

"Now, you have people that report out things on social media immediately, as soon as they hear something, and it may not even be accurate. But it takes off like wildfire," the police chief said.

Blair said the department was making a concerted effort — especially in the last few months — to engage the public more through social media and become the primary source for crime information on outlets such as Facebook.

Blair said during the presentation it wasn't possible to narrow down an exact reason for the decline, but he said he believes community engagement has made a dent.

Blair said "building relationships with our community" has led to people reporting incidents more, but that there is still work to do on that front.

Force multipliers

Blair has been a vocal proponent of the city's ShotSpotter technology — a gunfire detection system first implemented in 2022. He, once again, praised the system Monday.

There were 141 confirmed incidents of shots fired in Cape Girardeau last year compared to 391 the year prior. Blair said he and other law enforcement officials expected that number to increase in 2022 because of the gunfire detection system.

ShotSpotter sent out 83 alerts in Cape Girardeau since it went operational in May 2022. Those alerts led to numerous felony arrests and 12 gun seizures, Blair said. Around one-third of the alerts from ShotSpotter did not come with a corresponding call for service.

Council members in November approved an expansion that would more than double the area covered by the gunfire detection system. Blair said the expanded area should be operational in about a month.

The police chief also said the new FLOCK — license plate reader camera system — cameras have led to two warrant arrests in the last three weeks.

The technology has allowed the department to combat the ongoing staffing issues that have afflicted Cape Girardeau and numerous other law enforcement agencies around the country.

The department has 11 vacant officer positions, nine open jailer communications and three communicator positions unfilled.

Blair has lobbied for increased officer pay at Cape Girardeau Police Department previously, including at a study session in February. Despite a 2022 pay raise, the department trails many other areas locally, partially because of other agencies implementing their own pay increases.

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office and Jackson Police Department raised starting officer pay 7% and 10%, respectively. Cape Girardeau officers make anywhere from $100 to almost $3,000 less per year than other local law enforcement officers within the county despite a pay raise last July.

Council members have previously voiced support for the increase. The city is in the midst of its annual budget process.