Tour reveals police station's problems

A walk through Cape Girardeau's police station shows a need for offices and computers. For closets, cabinets and even garages to store reports and evidence. For space to hold meetings of major case squads. For room to house prisoners, do their laundry and prepare their meals. For places investigators can use to interview suspects, witnesses and victims.

But a fix looks to be a long way off.

In the meantime, "we're just coping the best we can with the facility that we have," said chief Wes Blair.

A space study of the police station presented to the city council Nov. 4 told officials and reminded officers what they already knew -- something needs to be done about the crowded, outdated and unsecure station used daily by the police department. It's not a new problem. Since 2008, more than 20 staff members have used offices in a modular unit next to the station because of a lack of space. Inside the main facility, there are supervising officers sharing desks and computers, a packed evidence storage room and jail, a ceiling falling through because of leaks and a mess of wires connecting all the department's technology in a corner that police spokesman Darin Hickey calls "spaghetti."

Options for upgrades provided by an architecture firm hired by the city included building a new station, renovating and adding space to the current station or buying and converting the former federal courthouse on Broadway. A new or upgraded station has been talked about by department and city leaders in recent years. There's just a lot that needs to happen first.

The jail area at the Cape Girardeau police station is seen Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. (Fred Lynch)

"We are very much just at the beginning of this issue," said Mayor Harry Rediger. "It's going to take a lot more study and a lot more conversation with staff and council needs to happen."

After the firm's presentation, some council members said they weren't satisfied with only three options, two of which used the current facility or location.

Rediger also said he wants other locations considered.

"I think [the study] really was too narrow a look," he said. "It needs to be broader. I agree with the council that we will need considerable study on location other than just the downtown inner-city area."

Another major hurdle before improvements can get off the ground -- the amount of money. Any of the presented options could cost between $12.6 and $14.9 million. The city has not yet determined a funding mechanism for a new or upgraded station, but the council has touched on possibly extending an expiring tax or starting a savings fund. An $11 million target was set by the city for a budget to cover police station improvements.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department is located at 40 S. Sprigg St. in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

Of the options on the table, Rediger and Blair say a new station at 40 S. Sprigg St. seems the most feasible. The cost of renovation and adding space to the current station could be as much or more than a new building, according to the firm's estimates.

"I think to act to spend the taxpayers' money in the best manner possible a renovation is not the right answer," Blair said. "It would be a like a 'putting lipstick on a pig' kind of thing."

As for the potential Broadway location, there appear to be several barriers -- and at least one which the chief agrees with the study consultants.

"We can function there if that's where they want us to be," Blair said. "But I'm not certain that having police cars running in and out and releasing people who have been in jail onto Broadway, which the city wants as a downtown business district designed to bring in visitors, is the best way."

FGM Architects representatives told the city council a police station in that area of the city could pose problems, such as increased traffic from emergency vehicles and introducing "less than desirable characters" into the area.

Other issues for the Broadway building would be acquiring the property and not having enough parking.

The state and size of the city jail also poses its own problem. Inmates continue to be released early when the 29-bed jail becomes too crowded, officers told the council last week. In 2010, a total of 202 days of sentences were commuted because of crowding; in 2011, inmates were let out a combined total of 552 days early. A significant portion of the cost -- up to one-third -- for a new or renovated station would be just for the jail.

Rediger said it also is an area that needs additional study. Blair said the department could ask the county to take inmates that committed lower-level offenses, but "that's not going to happen," he said, because the county jail also is crowded.

Officers also say they constantly look for ways to find more room. For evidence storage, a new wall of wooden cabinets lines a basement wall. Those are for overflow from the room around the corner, where a door opens to rows of shelves packed to the ceiling with envelopes large and small, plastic totes and miscellaneous items. The department takes in between 3,000 and 4,000 pieces of evidence a year, said Detective Jeff Bonham. But it can take up to two months to clear just one shelf because the police need a judge's permission to discard evidence. Still, Bonham said, he works every day to try to clear space.

In other areas of the station, between four and six officers take turns using one desk and computer. Items turned in to the station found by the public are stored in an off-site location. Over the years, walls were knocked out, only to build them in other places to adjust the size and layout of rooms as needed. An example is the waiting area: It once spanned the length of the front of the building; it has been reduced to the size of a small bedroom.

The police station was built in 1975.

"The building was built then the size it was needed," Hickey said. "The way things are now, it just doesn't work anymore."

Rediger said he expected the next conversation among council members about the police station would likely be in December.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

40 S. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, MO

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO

339 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO