WEEDING OUT CRIME

Although the official designation of Cape Girardeau as a Weed and Seed site was announced by the U.S. Justice Department just last week, the city already has begun to put the program into practice.

On Thursday, U.S. Attorney Edward L. Dowd Jr. announced that Cape Girardeau, Caruthersville, Charleston and Poplar Bluff have earned official Justice Department designation as Weed and Seed communities.

The four communities named Thursday join Sikeston, which has been active in the program since 1995, as a part of Southeast Missouri Weed and Seed Inc., the only regional Weed and Seed initiative in the country.

Operation Weed and Seed is a Justice Department initiative designed to weed out violent crime, drug use and gang activity in targeted neighborhoods in a community.

To that end, the Cape Girardeau Police Department has opened the Good Hope Neighborhood Police Station, a police substation on Good Hope Street in the heart of the targeted neighborhood. The opening of the substation on Good Hope nearly two weeks ago was meant to be a part of the weeding process by increasing police visibility and presence in the neighborhood.

Weed and Seed officials hope that the substation will not only act as a deterrent to criminals in the neighborhood but that it will create an environment that is safe for businesses wanting to return to the area, which is part of the second element of Operation Weed and Seed.

In addition to weeding out crime, the Weed and Seed program is aimed at seeding communities with a variety of resources to revitalize the targeted neighborhood.

A major component of the seeding will be establishment of safe havens, places that will provide educational and recreational opportunities for youths in the targeted area. Cape Girardeau has designated four existing agencies -- May Greene School, Greater Dimensions Church of God in Christ, the Salvation Army and the Cape Girardeau Civic Center -- as safe havens.

Now that Cape Girardeau has received its official designation as a Weed and Seed site and that grant money has been received, the city's Weed and Seed steering committee is ready to proceed with the hiring of a seeding coordinator. The coordinator will work with the safe havens to insure that they are doing what they are designated to do.

J.J. Williamson, chairman of the Cape Girardeau Weed and Seed steering committee, said 12 people applied for the coordinator position before Wednesday's application deadline. The committee hopes to have someone hired and on the job by Nov. 1, Williamson said.

Current plans are for the coordinator's position to be a part-time position. But as the program evolves, there is the possibility that it will become full time, Williamson said.

With its designation as a Weed and Seed site, Cape Girardeau became eligible for a portion of the $750,000 Weed and Seed grant approved earlier this year for the Southeast Missouri region.

In the funding request submitted by Southeast Missouri Weed and Seed Inc., the Cape Girardeau Division is slated to receive $132,800 for fiscal year 1998.

Tentative plans are for $52,000 of the funds to go for personnel, including funds for police overtime pay for Operation Safe Streets. Another $22,000 will be used to purchase police equipment used to fight crime and drug activity in the targeted neighborhood.

Of the remaining funds, $42,850 has been earmarked as a community fund used to support safe-haven and other seeding activities.

Williamson said the funds are not limited to the safe havens. Others may apply to the steering committee for mini-grants for other programs within the targeted area. In order to receive one of the mini-grants, the program would have to meet Weed and Seed guidelines, Williamson said.

He said that eventually the Weed and Seed program in Cape Girardeau may move beyond current programs and safe havens and address other concerns within the targeted neighborhood. Other concerns that may be addressed include housing and transportation issues.

"We have to stay focused on the issues at hand, but we must have long-range goals," he said.

In announcing Cape Girardeau's official designation as a Weed and Seed site, Dowd said Thursday that he hopes the programs will continue to expand with Cape Girardeau.

Among things Dowd would like to see in Cape Girardeau and the other communities in the Southeast Missouri Weed and Seed region is a summer internship program similar to one that has been started in St. Louis. The program in St. Louis places high school students from targeted neighborhoods in summer jobs in banks, insurance companies, law offices and police stations. It also provides the students with training and uniforms for the jobs.

"It gives kids the opportunity to see that they can handle jobs in any segment of the community, that they can fit in anywhere," Dowd said.

Cape Girardeau took its first official step toward becoming a Weed and Seed site in January when the city signed a contract with Southeast Missouri Weed and Seed Inc.

In March, the city named a section in the city's south side as its first targeted neighborhood. The target area is bound on the east by the Mississippi River, on the west by West End Boulevard, on the north by William Street and on the south by Southern Expressway.

The boundaries were selected based on crime and economic statistics provided in a 1995 study by Southeast Missouri State University faculty and students.