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NewsMarch 30, 2017

This month marks one year since the Cape Girardeau Police Department began weekend foot patrols downtown. So far, they've achieved the desired effect, said Marla Mills, executive director of Old Town Cape. "One of the goals of the [Downtown Cape Girardeau Community Improvement District] is to impact safety in the downtown area," Mills said. "So this is both a way to directly impact safety and the perception of safety. When people see police they feel safer."...

Cape Girardeau Police patrolmen Brian Eggers, left, and Jason Angle talk with passersby on Main Street during their downtown walk-around March 4, 2016, in Cape Girardeau.
Cape Girardeau Police patrolmen Brian Eggers, left, and Jason Angle talk with passersby on Main Street during their downtown walk-around March 4, 2016, in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

This month marks one year since the Cape Girardeau Police Department began weekend foot patrols downtown.

So far, they’ve achieved the desired effect, said Marla Mills, executive director of Old Town Cape.

“One of the goals of the [Downtown Cape Girardeau Community Improvement District] is to impact safety in the downtown area,” Mills said. “So this is both a way to directly impact safety and the perception of safety. When people see police they feel safer.”

Old Town Cape manages services for the The Downtown Cape Girardeau Community Improvement District, which funds the patrols, Mills said.

The patrols typically consist of two officers on foot assisting an officer on regular patrol in a vehicle, but officers sometimes have used bicycles or ATVs, depending on the needs of the situation, Mills said.

Rodney Pobst, who has owned downtown bar Pour House for the past 17 years, said he’s noticed a positive change since the patrols began.

“I like having them out there,” he said. “I think people behave better when they’re out there.”

He said seeing officers face-to-face fosters better communication between business owners such as himself and law enforcement.

“I’m here every night,” he said. “And I talk to [the patrolmen]. They’re nice guys.”

From when the patrols began the first week of March 2016 until the end of that year, officers worked just over 500 hours on patrols, Mills said.

Officers are paid hourly at overtime rates during the patrols.

Cape Girardeau police chief Wes Blair said the patrols have shown how relationships between residents and law enforcement can work.

“The feedback that we have gotten has been very positive,” Blair said. “The businesses like having the officers down there. It deters a lot of things before they get out of hand, plus it just builds good relationships with the community and the business owners, too, when we’re down there.”

Providing officers with the chance to exercise discretion has played a part in the initiative’s success, Blair said, adding the increased police presence hasn’t led to more arrests.

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“Our Cape downtown thing is: We want people to come downtown,” Blair said.

“We want them to have a good time and, you know, relieve their stress from the week or whatever or have dinner. And so if we can take measures such as warnings or saying, ‘Hey, you need to park here, or you need to do this or do that,’ we always want to err on the side of giving people the opportunity to remedy the problem before we just start throwing people in jail or issuing citations.”

Main Street Station owner Ron Taylor said police presence is necessary, and he prefers foot patrols to vehicle patrols.

He said vehicles tend to project a more “offensive” posture rather than what he feels is the more “defensive” image of foot patrols.

He said his business tends to suffer the more cop cars are downtown.

“When people see that, they go to other bars,” he said. “You know, they’ll go to Buffalo Wild Wings or something instead.”

He offers free coffee to officers and food discounts for first responders to make them feel welcome around his store.

“I want a police presence around my store. I’m open ’til 2 a.m. We depend on the police to be down here,” he said. “But driving around in that car don’t make me feel safe.”

Speaking for Old Town Cape, Mills echoed much of Blair’s positive assessment.

“Businesses, the business owners, the people that frequent downtown, [the interactions have] created an environment that’s a lot more open to police relationships and that kind of thing,” Mills said.

“So it’s been a really good thing.”

Consequently, the patrols will continue for the foreseeable future, she said.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

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