Strong leadership

Born with a great name for a cop, Steve Strong has been asked to live up to it in the months since he was hired as Cape Girardeau police chief.

Six months ago, the department was short-staffed due to a high turnover of officers, equipment was limited and morale was low.

To make matters worse, the 25-year veteran Strong was not the first choice of the Cape Girardeau Police Officers Association, which recommended a candidate from Bellevue, Neb., for the top job.

When his predecessor resigned in June, Strong was hired as interim chief. After a nationwide search, he was named chief in September.

Today, turnover has slowed to normal levels. Equipment conditions have improved and the mood around the station has lightened considerably.

Since he took over, Strong has been tackling problems brought to light by a $43,000 evaluation of police department operations, including perceptions that the source of the morale problem was out-of-touch management.

He says he does his best to remain accessible to officers, and even management's sharpest critics say it's had an effect.

Patrolman Curtis Session, president of Cape Girardeau Police Officers Association, was skeptical when the city picked Strong over the union's choice, but now he has nothing but praise for the chief.

"Everything's been positive. We're encouraged with the direction things are going," Session said.

Strong has kept to his word about an open-door policy, Session said, and the officers association is allowed to post information in the department, a practice that was previously prohibited.

"I would rate him very highly for his first six months," he said.

Session also credits Strong's leadership for a slowdown in the officer turnover rate. "In fact some of the guys who left want to come back," he said.

In 2000, the department lost six senior officers, and an overall total of 29 personnel. A Washington, D.C., consultancy hired to evaluate the department cited the high turnover rate and suggested it was linked to poor management, among other things.

Last year, four officers left.

Added burden

On Sept. 5, Strong inherited aging equipment, a too-small budget and a department that had outgrown its building.

A week later, ripple effects from Sept. 11 forced local police to shoulder even more duties.

Anthrax scares swept the nation, and Strong was kept busy reassuring a frightened public that the chances of attack in Cape Girardeau were highly remote.

Nevertheless, precautions were taken. Police provided security at the Cape Girardeau airport until the National Guard could take over. They helped beef up security at the water treatment plant and received extra emergency response training with an eye toward terrorist attacks.

Since Sept. 11, an officer has been assigned the role of keeping up with homeland security measures.

With no additional funds funneling down from the state or federal government, the extra hours have taken a financial toll, Strong said.

There's a chance some money will flow through the Federal Aviation Association to help reimburse the city for keeping officers on duty at the airport.

Officers have learned to watch for things they didn't look at as closely before. For example, the area around the bridge is patrolled more frequently.

The only bridge across the Mississippi for 30 miles, it would be an essential element if terrorist battles became local ones or a tempting target for pranksters.

Operations have been returning to normal, Strong said, and he's been able to turn his attention back to the daily duties of running a department.

Being proactive

Despite the strain on budgets and personnel, the new chief has some definite goals. Strong said he's focusing on making the department more proactive within the community. One plan is to reduce traffic accidents in the city, he said, or at least slow the increase of accidents.

"Traffic accidents cause a greater economic loss to people in the city than any other problem," Strong said.

He said residents in Cape Girardeau spend more money on traffic accidents and their aftershocks than any other incidents.

Car repairs, medical bills, funeral expenses and higher insurance all have devastating effects, Strong said.

He hopes a combination of increased public information about safe driving as well as heightened officer presence in danger areas will help.

"We can have an effect on this," Strong said.

Strong is creating a new special operations division within the department which will include traffic, community policing, animal control, student resource and DARE officers as well as special events.

The new chief is maintaining an active public presence, drawing from his community background, including previous and former positions with local civic organizations.

In a tough budget year, fund-raising skills are essential. Grants and donations are a major factor in updating equipment. In fact, the department will have to rely on donations to purchase a new police dog.

Strong holds a bachelor's in business administration from Southeast Missouri State University and has a graduate certificate in corrections from Sam Houston University in Huntsville, Texas. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va.

abuchanan@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160