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Tammy Wilcox is afraid to allow her child to play in Indian Park.

"I don't come down to this park, because I don't think it's safe enough for me, let alone my child," she said at a special Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting at Indian Park Monday. "I leave for work early in the morning and find all these beer cans and broken bottles that are laying in the street from the night before.

"People are in this park at all hours making noise when I'm trying to sleep," Wilcox added. "And it seems like no one is doing anything about it."

The neighborhood association met in the park Monday evening to address such concerns. But in doing so, Cape Girardeau police officers and Ward 2 Councilman Tom Neumeyer opened a can of worms.

"This lady shouldn't have to live like that," said Ike Hammonds, one of the two Cape Girardeau police officers charged with the city's new community policing program. "But we can't do anything about any of the things she mentioned if you all don't tell us about it.

"We will get reports of people drinking in the streets, gunfire in an area or even drug transactions going on, but when we get to the scene, nobody will tell us anything," said Hammonds. "It is our hope that you will come to know us, trust us and will tell us when something is happening in your area that you are concerned about. Without your help, there's not much we can do to solve problems here."

Neumeyer, a resident of the area and member of the neighborhood association, believes that everyone needs to work together if anything is to be done for the betterment of the area.

"One person can try to change things, but he alone cannot succeed," said Neumeyer. "By working together, our voices can be heard and we can make this area the kind of place where people are proud to live."

Neumeyer suggested Indian Park could be cleaned up by residents of the area.

"This is the most heavily used park in the city," he said. "It is in walking distance of the homes of close to 1,000 people in the area.

"Ninety-nine percent of the people who use this park use it for recreational purposes," Neumeyer said. "But there are a few people who are coming here to use the park for illegal and illicit purposes. Those people are not welcome here."

But the meeting designed to focus on a community effort to rid the area of crime and drugs, quickly turned into a finger-pointing match between black and white residents.

When the meeting seemed headed out of control, Debra Willis stepped in to mediate.

"We have to stop dealing with the symptoms and start dealing with the illness," she said. "The symptoms are what is happening here tonight. The illness is basic non-communication between black people and the police and the rest of the community. It is a lack of trust; a fear that they will come in and take everything away from us.

"We need to bring down the barriers if this is going to work," Willis added. "No one wants to live in fear."

Hammonds said that if things are going to change in the southeastern sector of Cape Girardeau, residents must initiate it.

"This is about raising a better standard of living for yourself," said Hammonds. "And this is not about you -- it's about your kids. I almost feel it's too late for the adults. We have to be thinking about the future of our children if this is going to work."

Before adjourning for the evening, Hammonds said that more meetings like Monday's will be held throughout the summer.

"I'm not sure if this is what everyone thought it would be, but it's a start," said Hammonds.