CRIMINAL CASES HAVE LEVELED OFF IN COUNTY

JACKSON -- Some criminology researchers believe there is a "criminal population" among us -- a segment of society drawn to the commission of vile and unlawful acts, for which most will be ultimately caught and punished.

If this is so, then perhaps Cape Girardeau County has realized its criminal population.

For the past four years the number of cases filed by the Cape County prosecutor's office has leveled off, increasing only by a few dozen every year. For example, in 1992 the office filed 1,434 charges against persons committing crimes within Cape County; in 1993, that number rose to 1,453.

"In 1989 and 1990, I had gotten a little bit optimistic when the number of cases filed by my office were showing a downward trend," said Cape County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle. "I thought that the baby boomers were getting beyond the age where they were committing crimes.

"But instead of continuing in a downward spiral, the numbers began to rise slowly; then they leveled off," he said. "The emergence of crack cocaine in the early 1990s is partially to blame for that."

The drug trade spawns criminal activity. Crimes often related to the trafficking of controlled substances -- assault, stealing, burglary and forgery -- consume the largest percentages of cases filed by Swingle's office.

The largest percentage of cases filed in 1993 -- nearly 15 percent -- were stealing charges. Close behind were driving while intoxicated, 12 percent; assault, 11 percent; and drug violations, 8 percent.

"If the drug problem could be curtailed, it would definitely cut down on all kinds of crime," said Swingle. "I would estimate that 80 percent of the burglaries and robberies we file on were committed by the defendant to get money to buy drugs."

Another factor in the leveling off of the caseload is the presence of the federal court in Cape Girardeau.

"A lot of the larger drug cases this past year went to the federal court system," Swingle said. "Without a federal office here in Cape Girardeau, many of those cases would have been filed in state court."

Although the number of cases remained fairly constant, the number of felonies filed by the prosecutor rose and the number of misdemeanors dropped off.

All told, Swingle's office filed 648 felony charges against offenders in 1993, more than 100 more than the previous year.

Another statistic that rose dramatically in 1993 was the number of search warrants authorized by the prosecutor's office. In 1993 law enforcement officers applied for 43 search warrants -- nearly twice as many as in the previous year.

"I attribute that to better-trained law enforcement officers," said Swingle. "Police are realizing in many situations that they are going to need a search warrant before they enter a building to make what they find admissible in court."

Search warrants are not only utilized by law enforcement to enter the home or an establishment owned by a suspected criminal, but also to get blood, hair and tissue samples from suspects to compare to those found at crime scenes.

Of the nearly 1,500 charges filed by the prosecutor last year, only 16 cases went before juries. Nine of the defendants were convicted on one or more of the charges against them; the other seven were acquitted.

"With less than 1 percent of the cases filed actually going to trial, 56 percent is pretty good," said Swingle. "I am by no means happy with the ratio, but it's the toughest cases that usually end up going to trial.

"I encourage my assistants to take the tough cases to trial -- win or lose," he said.

The 1993 session of the Missouri legislature produced a few laws that helped state prosecution, such as a revised driving-while-intoxicated statute, a stalking law, and allowing certain DWI field tests to be admitted into court.

But in the coming year Swingle hopes the legislature will reform sentencing in state courts.

"One thing I look for in this coming year more than anything is a truth-in-sentencing law to be passed," said Swingle. "The government needs to set a minimum amount of time a felon must serve on his sentence before he is eligible for parole.

"One of the biggest frustrations with my job is how soon these people we convict are getting out of prison," he said. "Class A and B felons are serving about 25 percent of their sentences; C and D offenders about 15 percent."

Swingle said he would like to see legislation passed where criminals must spend at least 50 percent of the imposed time behind bars.

"By the time these people actually go to prison, they have been given lots of breaks," said Swingle. "People pay their taxes expecting the government to keep dangerous criminals off the street, housing them away from the general population.

"Juries are sentencing people in ignorance -- thinking that if they give a guy 10 years he's going to spend that time in jail. That's not the way it goes."