QUALITIES OF LIFE: JACK WIMP, JUVENILE POLICE OFFICER, ON THE JOB

When Jack Wimp turns on the siren and drives his patrol car to a crime scene, he's Cpl. Wimp of the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

When he returns to his desk at the judicial circuit's juvenile office, he focuses his attention on children. He is a juvenile police officer, a new type of law enforcement officer in Cape Girardeau.

Wimp attempts to combat juvenile crime by increasing communication and continuity concerning juvenile cases.

Juvenile Officer Randall Rhodes said statistics led to the grant-supported program. Overall juvenile crime has leveled off, but a marked increase in violent activity by juveniles is evident.

In 1991 in Cape and Bollinger counties there were 152 violent referrals, which means they were turned over to the juvenile facility for crimes such as assault, homicide and other acts of violence. In 1998, there were 300 violent referrals -- nearly double of what it was in 1991.

"Violent referrals are those with a police report," Rhodes explained. "These cases won't be sent to some type of community liaison program."

In the past, juvenile crime reports were assigned to a variety of different officers, depending primarily on who was on duty when the crime occurred.

While on-duty officers still take initial reports, the reports go to Wimp for follow-up.

"I do the leg work," he said.

"If someone needs something, they call me, not one officer one day and another officer the next day," Wimp explained. "We are building relationships to solve cases."

In the past, a lack of continuity caused delays in some cases.

"We'd be working on a big case, then the detective would get reassigned. We would lose that information base," Rhodes explained.

The need for this type of continuity was recognized a decade earlier, Rhodes said, but funding wasn't available.

In addition, rules governing release of information about children were stricter.

Today, Wimp is able to access both police department and juvenile court resources.

Before 1995, this kind of information sharing was impossible, Rhodes explained. "Our confidentiality rules wouldn't have allowed it. But those restrictions have been lifted by statute."

The cases Wimp investigates range from run-away children and property damage to sexual assault and child abuse.

The juvenile office serves the 32nd judicial circuit, including Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties. Cape Girardeau City makes up about 80 percent of the referrals.

The juvenile police officer isn't the only approach to dealing with juvenile crime, Rhodes said. Through a series of grants, his office employed a truant officer and helped established alternative schools in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Perryville and Marble Hill.

Cape Girardeau County is in the planning stages of building a juvenile facility that will have either 24 or 32 beds. The current facility only holds eight and is nearly full year round.

Rhodes said the payoff from the juvenile police officer is evident.

Since the middle of November, Wimp's work has resulted in 137 people taken into custody and 61 felony charges. Of the 137 taken into custody, 123 were juveniles and 14 were adults.

Statewide, juvenile courts are asking local offices to begin working more closely with local police departments.

"That's what we do daily already," Rhodes said. "We're ahead of the game on that."

Wimp said: "I hope to make a difference in kid's lives. So far, it has worked wonderfully."