POLICE MAY DROP CYCLE UNIT

Don Hellwege would buckle up if he could.

Hellwege is a motorcycle patrolman with the Cape Girardeau Police Department's traffic division.

He spends his eight-hour shifts riding a Kawasaki 1000, black and white police motorcycle.

He thinks police motorcycles are useful in maneuvering through traffic-congested areas to reach the scene of an accident. They also are an asset in parades for crowd control and escorting of dignitaries, he said.

But he knows that riding a motorcycle around all day can be dangerous.

"Every time you make a movement on a motorcycle as a police officer, there is a high degree of danger," he said.

Hellwege said police officers on motorcycles face a greater degree of serious injuries if they are in an accident than those who are in patrol cars.

Hellwege could be doing his shifts in a patrol car in the future.

Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr. may permanently park the department's two motorcycles in the wake of serious injuries to two officers within the past two years.

Boyd said he had considered grounding the department's two motorcycles after the accident two years ago, but other officers talked him out of it.

"It is an issue we will revisit," the police chief said. "It is time to sit down and make some hard decisions. I sure don't want to lose any more officers."

The police chief said he will sound out the feelings of his officers at a department meeting Wednesday.

Cape Girardeau is the only major city in Southeast Missouri with a motorcycle unit and one of only two major cities in the region that have motorcycle officers. The other is Carbondale, Ill.

Paducah, Ky., police used to have two motorcycles. But the department quit using them in the late 1960s because of accidents, Police Chief L.V. McGinty said.

The Missouri Highway Patrol eliminated its last two motorcycles this year. In 1979, it had 18 motorcycles. But in recent years the patrol operated only two motorcycles, primarily for ceremonial duties.

Capt. Clarence Greeno, patrol spokesman in Jefferson City, said motorcycles aren't practical for state troopers. "You can't transport prisoners on a motorcycle," he said.

Cape Girardeau police officer Dan Niswonger was seriously injured April 2, 1994, while working traffic control during a 5K run on Sprigg Street. He collided with a van.

Both he and his motorcycle went flying. His pelvic bone was shattered in 18 places, his right hip socket was broken five times. His backside was torn to pieces.

Niswonger's rehabilitation was laborious and painful. There were times doctors didn't know if he would live.

Seven weeks after the accident, infection forced the amputation of his right leg, right pelvic bone and right buttock.

The injuries ultimately forced him to retire from the police department.

Patrolman William "Sonny" Kincade had been a motorcycle officer with the department for about a year before he was seriously injured in an accident May 24. Kincade was responding to a serious-injury traffic accident when his motorcycle and a van collided at Perryville Road and Bertling.

Police said the driver of the van turned into the path of the motorcycle.

Kincade suffered a broken ankle and broken vertebrae in his back. He was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital and transferred to St. Joseph Hospital in Kirkwood in St. Louis County.

Kincade underwent back surgery Thursday.

Boyd said doctors have indicated that Kincade should recover completely from his injuries.

But he said he doesn't know when Kincade would be able to return to duty.

The department has only one operating motorcycle and one regular motorcycle officer, Hellwege. The motorcycle Kincade was riding remains parked in the police garage, waiting for repairs.

Of the department's 67 commissioned officers, only three officers in the traffic division and one detective have been trained to operate police motorcycles.

The department first used motorcycles some 60 years ago, Boyd said. Records show the department had a motorcycle policeman at least as early as 1931.

Its current use of motorcycles in the traffic division dates back to 1983, when the department bought two motorcycles with a state grant.

Lt. Dennis Dolan said the department went for years without any accident involving police motorcycles.

Dolan, who rides motorcycles in his leisure time, can't explain why the department has experienced two serious accidents in two years.

Boyd said motorists often don't notice motorcycles and they are hard to see.

In the latest accident, the woman driving the van reported that she didn't see the motorcycle, Boyd said.