FOUR NEW POLICE OFFICERS HIRED; OFFICIALS HOPE FOR MORE IN '93

The city of Cape Girardeau this week welcomed four new police officers on staff, but officials said it will be at least next year before the city confronts a shortage in detectives on the force.

Police Chief Howard "Butch" Boyd Jr. said Thursday the new officers will replace four patrolmen who have resigned in the past six months. He said he'll have to wait to see what the budget will allow next year before the police force is expanded.

"It's no secret at all that our calls for service increase every year, and we're keeping a close watch on this," Boyd said. "The officers on street go from call to call to call, and it's tough for them to keep up."

The chief also said that he would like to add some detectives in the criminal investigation division, where 10 detectives work bloated caseloads.

Assistant City Manager Al Stoverink said that he hopes at least one new position in the department can be added in next year's budget.

When the fiscal year budget was finalized in April, the police department underwent staff reorganizations that eliminated three positions.

City officials said the cuts were necessary to keep the city from reducing services in light of then-slumping sales tax revenues. The staff reorganization also was an effort to improve the department's efficiency something all city departments last year were asked to do.

Stoverink said Thursday sales tax revenues appear to be on the rebound, which could lead to additional police staff. The budget process will begin this month with department heads reviewing their needs and ways to further "streamline" operations.

"I think we had indicated last spring that reorganization moves were designed to streamline our operations to eliminate any extra administrative salaries that we could, with the intent of trying to free up the budget in the future for more line personnel," Stoverink said.

"I definitely think that's going to be the focus, obviously depending on how our budget's going to look next spring."

Stoverink said that, like the police department, all city departments have seen a "significant increase" in service demands in the past few years.

"Despite the fact that the census doesn't show a population increase, it's obvious to any observer that there's been a tremendous increase in activity with commercial growth and residential expansion," he said.

"All these things trigger additional maintenance requests in all our departments, including increased incidents for the police and fire departments."

Stoverink said the improved sales tax receipts in the first quarter this year makes him optimistic the budget will have the "flexibility to address those needs."

But, as in any year, such allocations have to be balanced with pay raises for existing personnel and capital equipment replacements.

"How that will balance out next year, it's pretty premature to say," Stoverink said. "We're starting the budget process for next year this month.

"I'm hopeful that we would be able to provide room in the budget for at least one additional person," he said. "As we indicated last spring, that's a priority.

"But we also have some pretty significant equipment needs. I hope the pie has grown enough that we can satisfy the most pressing of those needs."

Until new officers can be added to the department's criminal division, Boyd said he will implement a training program that was used about 15 years ago.

The four new patrolmen and the department's other patrolmen will be "taken from the street" and assigned to the criminal division in 90-day shifts, Boyd said.

He said that not only will the patrolmen help to ease the detective's caseload burden, but they'll also receive valuable investigation training.

"It gives the rank-and-file patrolmen experience with criminal cases and investigations that they don't get now," he said. "We'll probably be ready to look at that when these four new officers are kicked out on their own."

Boyd said the new officers will be in a three-week training program before they're sent in the field with other officers. When the field officers recommend the new officers are ready, they'll be sent out on their own, he said.

The new officers are:

20Brian Wescoat Ritter, 23, who was reared in Cape Girardeau and was graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a criminal justice and political science degree. He's been a member of the city's reserve police force since May 1990.

Kelly Brian Kenser, 25, who is from North Carolina and will graduate from Southeast next month with a criminal justice and military science degree. He's been a reserve officer since February, and formerly served four years in the Army.

Arthur Lee Hammonds, 34, who has been a member of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department for the past 14 years and a member of the police reserve. He's also a local resident and is a graduate of Cape Girardeau Central High School.

20Eddie Webb Jr., 24, who originally is from Morehouse. He was graduated from Southeast, and comes to the Cape Girardeau Police Department from the University of Missouri-Rolla Police Department.