STUDENTS LEARN TO IDENTIFY CRIME

Representatives of the Cape Girardeau Police Department graduated 350 students with honors Monday after they completed a gang-resistance course.

Seventh-graders at Louis J. Schulz School received diplomas from Cape Girardeau police officer Ike Hammond and Cpl. Charlie Herbst. Hammond and Herbst were the instructors for the nine-week Gang Resistance Education and Training course.

"We don't think as a rule we have a real bad gang problem in Cape," said Herbst. "However, there is a propensity for violence nationwide, and we want to stop it before it sets in here."

The GREAT program was started in Phoenix, Ariz., in 1991 to target violence, drugs and crime. The program came to Cape Girardeau in 1995 with an emphasis on violence and crime.

Herbst said the first thing students learn is what a crime is. Then they are taught about victims and rights, he said.

The program also teaches students different ways to satisfy basic needs and resolve conflicts, said Herbst. The students learn what prejudice is and how it can cause people to be violent, he said.

The GREAT program reinforces how to find positive friends and role models and how to be responsible for your actions, he said.

"We depend on the kids to interact with us quite a bit," said Herbst. "The kids have done well, and the schools seem very pleased to have us there."

Herbst said he believes the program has been successful and made a difference with the students. "When we hear from the teachers and principals that it's successful," he said, "then we know it."

The GREAT program will resume in the spring at St. Mary's Cathedral, St. Vincent de Paul, and Trinity Lutheran schools.