Sheriff, chief say police have a lot on their hands

In the wake of ongoing scrutiny over the May 25 choking death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, two prominent figures in local law enforcement condemned the brutality.

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Ruth Ann Dickerson and Cape Girardeau police chief Wes Blair suggest an even deeper problem exists.

Both say the public’s expectations of police are too broad.

This perception is not the public’s fault, they insist, but say the police are often the only reliable option for myriad issues.

“People have to decide what they want from the police,” Dickerson said.

Cape Girardeau police chief Wes BlairSoutheast Missourian file

“We’re trained to enforce the law and keep the peace,” she said, “but it’s not our job to be raising other people’s kids and acting as social workers.”

Blair echoed those remarks.

“We have very high expectations (on us) to solve societal problems when it seems no one else can,” said Blair, chief since 2013.

Dickerson and Blair lament the cuts in state mental health funding.

“We have a gentleman right now,” Dickerson said, “who belongs in a treatment center but (the state) can’t find him a bed.”

The unnamed individual was lodged at the county jail in Jackson until four days ago when he was hospitalized.

“Because he’s our responsibility, we’ve had to sit a guard with him at the hospital 24 hours a day,” Dickerson said.

“The average police officer is overburdened,” Blair said, suggesting the lack of state resources makes the police the catch-all for all sorts of problems.

“We get called for drug overdoses,” Blair said, “and if a resident’s grass has grown too high, we get called to handle that, too.”

If someone is found to be homeless, there are not-for-profit organizations set up to help, Blair acknowledged, “But at 3 a.m., we get the call and we respond.”

According to the Missouri Budget Project, the General Assembly has cut state general revenue funding for mental health services by as much as 35% since 2009.

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic-generated economic standstill, Gov. Mike Parson announced $140 million in overall budget cuts in early April and has followed it with an additional $47 million in reductions.

Among those targeted for less money: the Missouri Department of Mental Health, one of nine state agencies on the cut list.

“The county jails are (collectively) the largest mental health institution in the country right now,” Blair said.

Dickerson and Blair say they’ve adjusted to a reality beyond their control by sending patrol and jail staff to crisis intervention team (CIT) training in order to deal with those in their charge who properly ought to be housed in a treatment center.

Blair said up to 95% of his officers get CIT training.

“But the training amounts to (only) 40 hours,” he said. “That’s nowhere near what a trained mental health caregiver receives.”

“The problem is getting worse due primarily to limitations of space,” said Dickerson, sheriff since November 2018.

The county lockup is at capacity with 220 prisoners, but the number has risen to 285 on some days.

“Plus, mixing people with mental issues with a jail’s general population is not an ideal situation,” she said.

Dickerson and Blair have nothing but praise for residents following the May 31 Black Lives Matter protest in Cape Girardeau and Sunday’s smaller gathering in Jackson.

“I’ve lived my whole life in this county,” Dickerson said, “and the people here make me proud.”

The peaceful protests in both locations, free of looting and destruction of property, “happened just the way they should,” she added.

Blair’s department suspended its regular Coffee with Police gatherings, begun by the chief in 2014, when the pandemic began.

“COVID messed everything up,” Blair said, “but we hope to resume in the next couple of months” if local business owners are amenable.

Blair added that if Parson authorizes the quick implementation of Phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan, the timetable for community coffees may be sped up.

Parson is expected to announce today whether Phase 2 will go ahead.

Phase 1 of reopening began May 4 and was supposed to expire June 1, but Parson extended the initial phase until June 15.