TWO COUNCILMEN UPSET OVER NOISE, LOITERING

Two Cape Girardeau City Council members are unhappy that police aren't enforcing peace disturbance and loitering ordinances as they believe it should be done.

Councilmen Jay Purcell and Richard "Butch" Eggimann have been asking city officials to address the problems of loud radios and groups standing in the street late into the night in the 200 block of South Middle Street.

Neither councilman represents the area where they say most of the problems occur.

Councilman Tom Neumeyer, who does represent that part of the city, has remained fairly quiet about the issue. So have Matt Hopkins and Hugh White.

Frank Stoffregen has said he supports the city's police officers but does want an ordinance that would give them more authority.

Must sign complaint

The matter has been discussed at length during the last two council study sessions, and was again talked about during a council retreat Friday.

At the retreat, the council looked at the possibility of changing its peace disturbance ordinance so that police could issue the summons without having a neighbor sign the complaint. As the ordinance reads now, a neighbor must sign a complaint before police can write a summons for the violation.

The discussions began May 7 when Purcell asked that the police begin enforcing the noise ordinances more thoroughly. Purcell said he has had residents on Middle Street complain to him about people playing loud radios because they believed the police weren't doing anything about it.

Purcell said that his comments weren't directed at any particular officer or at the department, but that laws should be enforced fairly.

Police Chief Rick Hetzel then presented a memo to council members May 14 showing what arrests and violations have been cited in all areas of the city, particularly in the southern portion of the city. The memo upset Purcell and Eggimann even more.

"The memo show's what's been done up to now," Purcell said, "but what's the plan for later?"

He suggested an aggressive plan so violators would know their behavior wasn't acceptable. Purcell wants the council and police chief to stress to officers that peace disturbance ordinances have to be enforced no matter in what neighborhood. However, statistics show that more citations and arrests are made in south Cape Girardeau than in any other area of the city.

Eggimann said officers have been working to make the southern part of the city safer. "We've been working on the problem for the last four years, and it's not been handled adequately," he said. "The reality is that the problem is not solved."

Issue more complicated

But "it's not a black and white issue," Neumeyer said. What Purcell and Eggimann have been doing is pointing fingers and attacking the chief, he said.

The noise violations and citations often run in cycles. If the police issue warnings and summons in a particular neighborhood for a few weeks time, the problems seem to disappear, but only to reappear in another area or return later.

Hetzel admits that the greatest problem is that people don't want to sign complaints. The solution is found in striking a balance with community policing, he said.

Neumeyer agreed. "You help effect change within neighborhoods," not from the outside looking in, he said. He and Hetzel and the mayor have attended meetings with neighborhood leaders in south Cape to work out solutions to some of the problems.

Purcell and Eggimann haven't been to any of those meetings, Neumeyer said. He sees their concern for his ward as an attack.

"I live down here and see the problem is citywide," Neumeyer said. "It's kind of curious when they're just obsessive."

Be a thorn in their side'

Purcell had suggested during a 75-minute study session last Monday that officers target neighborhoods where problems exist and "be a thorn in their side."

But the mayor, a lawyer, said such measures aren't legal. "Before you drive people out you need to read the Constitution because you just can't go target them unless you have probable cause to get a warrant."

Purcell still contends that there needs to be better law enforcement. "I'm not saying that the police aren't doing something but we need to set an example with the council in saying what's acceptable."

And since last week, when officers were asked to enforce the city ordinances with greater zeal, some residents in the 200 block of South Middle have said it's been harassment, said Hetzel.

The problem is that laws against loitering aren't easily enforceable because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that people have a constitutional right to do nothing, said City Attorney Eric Cunningham.

Unless people are obstructing traffic or interfering with a business, then standing around idly is legal, Cunningham said.

But the issues facing the council aren't just enforcing peace disturbance violations and citing loiterers -- it's something that runs deeper.

The council needs to give the police department some direction, said Mayor Al Spradling III.

A $43,000 study about turnover in the police department is due in June. That study should help the council learn more about why officers are leaving and what the city can do to retain them. The study is due about the same time Hetzel leaves to take a job in the public relations department at St. Francis Medical Center.

City Manager Michael Miller said it is his job to give departments direction based on what the council wants done.

But the banter could prevent good candidates from applying, particularly those already working in the department, Neumeyer said. "It could decrease our chance of getting an effective leader when someone sees the situation at the council."

When Hetzel was hired, the council and police department wanted someone to be visible in the public eye and build a name for the department. Hetzel has done that and now attitudes have shifted again, Miller said.

The search for a new police chief should be complete by July, Miller said.