KEEPING CAPE SAFE

Creating a better place to live by making a safer place to live is the goal of the Cape Girardeau Safe Communities Program.

"Anytime a community gets involved, anytime a community takes good, positive action, there are going to be some good, positive results," said Sharee Galnore, the program's coordinator.

Galnore describes Safe Communities as an injury prevention program designed with the flexibility to allow communities to try different approaches and measures that will reduce death and injury.

Basically, it's about identifying safety concerns and imposing safety solutions, she said.

Cape Girardeau became the first Safe Communities program in Missouri earlier this year, Galnore said. Springfield and Morley have recently followed suit and have adopted Safe Communities programs of their own.

But Galnore said this is an old program with a new name and a new emphasis. Locally, the program was formerly known as the Cape Girardeau Community Traffic Safety program.

That had existed here since 1987, with a much narrower accent on traffic, drunk driving and seatbelts.

In March, the Missouri Division of Highway Safety suggested the traffic program become a Safe Communities Program, which would broaden their focus. Galnore thought that was a great idea.

The larger Safe Communities program provides over a dozen smaller programs aimed at raising public awareness about safety issues.

Safe Communities helps participating communities gather local data about major causes of death and injury to its citizens. Using this data, programs can be designed to meet the community's individual need.

A full committee meets every other month with one annual planning workshop, Galnore said. About 20 organizations are represented on the committee, she said.

The committee is composed of people from law enforcement, hospitals, schools, businesses, fire departments, emergency medical service groups and the media.

In addition to traffic, with the expanded focus Safe Communities examines safety issues involving bicycles, infants, the elderly, homes and others.

The Safety Village, Bicycle Safety Workshop, Mock DWI trial, Team Spirit Training, Traffic Offenders Program, Baby Shower for Safety, and Safety Belt Checkpoint are just some of the programs that Safe Communities started and helps maintain.

In addition to maintaining existing programs, some of which are taken over by other organizations wanting to get involved, Safe Communities organizes new ones.

Team Spirit, made up of area high school students, is preparing a safety puppet presentation for younger school children, Galnore said.

But the main concern of Safe Communities hasn't changed, Galnore said. It's still traffic.

"When you look at the major cause of injury, it's always going to be traffic," Galnore said.