Police see benefits from higher salaries, more job applicants

If 2004 was a better year for law enforcement than 2003 -- and officials say it was -- then 2005 can only get better. And officials say they believe it will.

Cape Girardeau police chief Steve Strong looks back on a 2004 when he was short at least 15 officers and no one with any experience would apply for openings. When Cape Girardeau voters approved a sales tax earlier this year to benefit the fire and police departments, so many things changed, he said.

More people are looking at the police department for employment. Since 1998, he said, the department averaged about 28 applications for a communications job. Now they have 58 applications.

Strong used to average 51 applications for a police officer position. Now he has 75 applications for each available position. Strong filled some vacancies earlier, but recently there were four openings, he said. Two have been taken care of: One man is returning from military duty.Another officer left because his wife, who was the breadwinner of the household, was transferred and he followed her. Now that the salary for an officer has improved, that officer and his family will be returning.

"Actually they're seeing there is a future here," Strong said.

Many more of the most recent group of applicants are experienced, Strong said. He had often said prior to the sales tax election that experienced officers were applying in cities that paid more. While he could hire good beginners, he also had to pay for their training and put them on the street with a training officer he needed to work in other areas. Then he had to hope that new officer would stay and not go to a better-paying job.

"From an operations standpoint, I have been looking forward to getting back to where we have people to fill those positions again," Capt. Carl Kinnison said. "We're just about there."

Strong said the department has never been at its full force of 71 members in all the time he has been chief.

The sales tax approved by 82 percent of voters brought more than a long-awaited salary increase and the promise of more manpower and equipment.

"It's not just the fact that the tax passed," Strong said. "It was the way it passed, with an overwhelming majority of the people. That in itself is a morale booster."

After years of working with substandard equipment and low pay, Strong said, it was easy for police officers to wonder if anyone in the city really appreciated what they do.

In the coming year, the department is looking forward to replacing some of its patrol cars. The last time it bought cars was in 1998 -- used cars from the highway patrol. This time, they're going to get new cars bought on the state bid process at the state's fleet price. He will also buy enough Tasers for all the officers on the street and will update the guns, radios, uniforms and other equipment needed.

After so many years of not having enough equipment, Strong said it will take awhile to catch up.

"It's not going to be something we can fix overnight," he said.

Internet crime

But he and Strong agree that a time is coming when the department will need to add an Internet crime expert to its staff to take the place of the one who left and to train another officer as a backup. The department does have a computer dedicated to Internet crimes. Not only is Internet crime the fastest-growing category in the country, it has also made identity theft the most popular means of stealing.

Now that the financial situation is improving, Cape Girardeau police plan to be more proactive in the community instead of reacting to incidents. More personnel will be available to work with neighborhood watch programs, such as the one on Hanover Street. Sgt. Rick Schmidt said neighbors on Hanover found security in numbers and are now not afraid to sign complaints and go to court against the criminals who were moving into their area. With a watch program in effect, no one neighbor is singled out for retaliation, and people feel more confident about taking back their neighborhoods, he said.

"Hanover is nothing like it used to be."

Some of the quiet on Hanover may now be weather related, but Strong said police will be ready for whatever warmer weather might bring. They're planning how they can work in risky neighborhoods before problems develop.

Strong said his department attempted to do that a year ago with a satellite office on Good Hope Street, which was funded by a grant. The satellite station did not have an opportunity to work because he had to pull staff from that office to work in other areas, he said.

Now that the grant has expired, Strong doesn't foresee reopening the satellite office. But he does envision making better use of money by building an annex in city-owned property near the new federal courthouse.

"It's going to be nice to plan for those things you can do to prevent problems as opposed to spending time thinking how we're going to address a problem because it's here," Strong said.

Jackson's law, order

Jackson police saw 2004 as a better year than the previous one.

"We did not have a tornado," said police chief James Humphreys. "This has been a lot better year. I feel like we had to start from scratch."

In May 2003, a tornado blew through Jackson and ripped the roof off the police and fire station.

Throughout this year, his department has benefited from more than $62,000 in grant money that bought bullet-proof vests, weapons and other safety equipment.

After working the past year while some officers were away in the military, 2005 will see Jackson back at full staff, Humphreys said. Darrell Sievers, the department's school resource officer, has returned from duty in Kyrgyzstan and will go back to work after the first of the year.

Even with a full complement of 22 commissioned officers, Humphreys said, he maximizes his staff by joining forces with other professional agencies such as the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force.

"Working with the drug task force we have made a lot of progress and continue to make progress," Humphreys said. "Being a small agency we're not able to get a lot of manpower. Working with the task force and other agencies helps us out a lot.

Humphreys plans to continue working with the drug task force, "focusing more on things going on over here in Jackson." He also plans to work more with the Southeast Missouri Hazardous Materials Tactical Team.

Humphreys also intends to apply for more grants in 2005 to upgrade equipment, particularly Tasers.

County's tragedies, triumphs

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan said when he looks back at 2004, he sees tragedies and triumphs. The biggest tragedy, he said, was the sudden death in May of deputy Rhonda Westrich, who worked with domestic violence and abuse victims.

"That was a tough one to deal with," Jordan said. "Most of us had never faced before losing an officer we worked with daily."

Among the triumphs, Jordan said, is his being re-elected by a margin that he said was humbling in the public confidence shown in him.

Looking ahead, Jordan said he plans to continue working toward combating methamphetamine labs. The number of meth labs taken down in the county in 2004 was 27. At the end of 2003, the number was 40.

"We had a good decrease in meth labs in Cape Girardeau County," he said, adding that numbers were up slightly statewide. Jordan said legislation introduced with the support of state Rep. Scott Lipke, R-Jackson, and state senator-elect Jason Crowell to make starch-based pseudoephedrine pills a class 5 controlled substance will further eradicate meth production in Missouri.

The sheriff said housing federal prisoners in the jail brought in more than $880,000, more than enough to retire the bond payment on the jail. The sheriff's department received a Homeland Security grant that will buy a new fingerprint scanning system that not only makes fingerprinting prisoners easier and more clear but also links the prints to a national network that matches fingerprints with those of missing per sons, wanted persons, and persons believed to be associated with terrorism. The scanning system will be in place sometime in 2005, Jordan said.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

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