CRIME COMMISSION TO HOLD HEARING HERE

Success stories and concerns in the fight against crime will be aired before the Governor's Crime Commission at a public hearing in Cape Girardeau Thursday afternoon.

The hearing will be held from 2-4 p.m. in the City Council chambers at City Hall, 401 Independence.

The Cape Girardeau hearing is one of 15 scheduled to be held around the state this fall. Gov. John Ashcroft's commission held its first public hearings Monday in Columbia and Sedalia.

The final commission hearing is scheduled for Oct. 4 at Jefferson City.

Missouri Attorney General William Webster is heading up the 43-member commission.

Webster said the hearings will be used to provide support for needed legislation, to raise public awareness about crime prevention and provide an alternate perspective on Missouri's fight against crime.

"According to reports by the FBI, at least one of every 16 Cape Girardeau residents was affected by crime in 1990," Webster said in a prepared statement. He said the statistics include violent crimes and property crimes reported to law enforcement officials.

The FBI crime index total includes the violent crimes of murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault, and property crimes of burglary, larceny and theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.

"We want to learn what Cape Girardeau citizens see as their greatest crime problem, and also learn which local programs are succeeding in reducing crime," the attorney general said.

Witnesses scheduled to testify include Cape Girardeau Mayor Gene Rhodes and three members of the Cape Girardeau Police Department: Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr., Capt. Steve Strong and Sgt. Carl Kinnison.

Also on the witness list are Farmington Police Chief Robert Oder, Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell and Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Norman Copeland.

Boyd said, "Generally, they wanted us to talk about our successes in reduction of crime."

He said he and the other two members of his department will discuss the city's crime prevention efforts, such as the neighborhood and business watch programs.

Boyd said he also will tell the commission that it's important to provide adequate funding for the Southeast Missouri Regional Crime Lab. State budget cuts are affecting the operation of the lab, he said.

"Every law enforcement agency in Southeast Missouri must have the services of a crime lab. It's our view that the state at some point in time needs to make a firm commitment," said Boyd.

"A lot of problems we never are going to be able to do anything about from a prevention standpoint," the police chief said. "The interstate brings down a lot of crime. You can't prevent that sort of thing."

Boyd said the city's greatest crime problem is theft. "We attract a lot of shoplifters. They come to our mall and (Town) Plaza and retail stores, and they steal."