PRISON SPACE, TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE LAW ENFORCEMENT

Drugs, less prison space and ever-advancing technology will be familiar foes in the war against crime in the 21st century.

These are the same problems that the criminal system has fought for decades. And more of the same are expected if predictions by officials in the legal and law enforcement communities are correct.

"There has been -- and always will be -- crime in any community," said Circuit Judge John W. Grimm. "With hard working judges, lawyers and court personnel, we can stay ahead of it and keep the system fair and efficient."

The criminal justice system is not without its problems, however, with prison space being one of the biggest, Grimm said. With more and more offenders being sentenced to prison, less and less space for new offenders is available.

A lot of money has been spent in the last few years in building and staffing prisons, he said. That money should have been spent five or 10 years ago to reach the level where it needed to be.

But building new prisons isn't a cure-all solution. Grimm thinks there will have to be some point at which prison growth is going to have to subside.

"Although we need to ensure violent criminals serve the sentences they've been given, I don't know if, as taxpayers, we can continue to spend $1 billion a year on the construction and staffing of prisons," he said. "I just don't know how economically practical that is."

Technology is another problem that is going to make fighting crime more difficult in the next millennium.

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan said law enforcement agencies will have to adapt to the advanced technology that many criminals employ.

"I don't think there's any question that criminals will become more sophisticated," Jordan said. "With the advent of the Internet and wire and bank transfers, I think there will be much more computer and white-collar crime."

When such crimes occur, a federal agency is brought in to investigate, Jordan said, adding that this is going to have to change.

"There's no way the federal government will be able to keep up with it," Jordan said. "Sheriff and police departments are going to have to learn how to deal with these crimes. If you remain at status quo the way technology is advancing, you're going to be left behind."

Law enforcement is no different than society in its need to change, Jordan said. Law enforcement will need to constantly look ahead to what is coming down the road. They will have to be able to recognize a potential problem and be proactive rather than reactive, he said.

Cape Girardeau Police Chief Rick Hetzel agrees technology is going to have a tremendous impact on tomorrow's crime-fighting.

He thinks it will be important for police to become smarter in using technology.

He said policing will see a change in weaponry in the 21st century. Already in development are weapons that can apprehend criminals with minimal injury to the officer and the criminal.

There is testing and research being done searching for a way to electronically disable a vehicle.

Defensive netting is being looked into. This works by firing a net to catch a fleeing suspect, Hetzel said.

But, he warned, if community partnerships with schools aren't implemented, things could get worse before they get better.

Every crime wave in history was precipitated by an increase in the youth population, Hetzel said, adding that the last increase was in the 1960s.

Criminologists predict that by 2005, another 5 million children will live in the United States. That means crime could get worse, Hetzel said.

"But if we continue to build partnerships in schools, then I think yes, things will get better," Hetzel said. "If we turn our focus in another direction, who knows?"

Statistics show that drug use and crime have always gone hand-in-hand. Some lawyers say that when you get drugs under control, crime will decline.

"Drugs are involved in the vast majority of crimes that are committed in cases we represent," said Kent Hall, head of the public defender's office in Jackson. "And by drugs I mean anything from alcohol to methamphetamine to crack cocaine."

More treatment for those arrested for possession of these drugs should be built into the criminal code, Hall said, adding that makes a distinction between the possession and the selling.

"I think that drug use and addiction are both socioeconomic problems and if you strictly try to deal with them through incarceration or prison, you're never going to solve the real problem," he said.

The criminal code should require them to get some kind of treatment before sending them to prison.

County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle hopes to see some laws change in the 21st century.

"The number one positive thing that could happen is the truth in sentencing laws being expanded to include all crimes," Swingle said. "That would mean that when a judge or jury sentences someone, he will serve at least 85 percent of that sentence. Right now that only applies to the most serious crimes."

Swingle said it's misleading for the public to hear prisoners sentenced to five years will probably only serve 25 percent of that sentence before being paroled.

Swingle also said that police officers of the next century will be very different. Drastically improved qualifications for police officers makes for better police officers and better policing.

"That's what I see in the future, very well-trained, professional police officers, many, if not most, of which will have college degrees," he said.