CLEANING UP SIKESTON GANGS WILL TAKE RESOLVE OF WHOLE COMMUNITY

The stories in the Southeast Missourian last week about Sunset, the area of Sikeston where hoodlums seem to have the upper hand over police, were chilling. Those stories also served as a wake-up call for Cape Girardeau and other communities in Southeast Missouri and nearby states.

The bad news is that the punks outnumber the police in Sikeston. And innocent residents are suffering the consequences. There are eight vacancies at the Sikeston Department of Public Safety, but the starting pay is low, and officers also must perform firefighting duties. Without the ability to offer higher salaries, the department isn't having much luck in its applicant search.

The good news is that the situation is generating some activity to turn the situation around.

A group of law enforcement folks, prosecutors, U.S. attorneys, officeholders -- a collection of local, state and federal officials -- is meeting to search for solutions. Meetings alone, of course, won't end the reign of hooliganism in Sikeston. But it is a step toward the kind of law enforcement that is sorely needed.

Another program that doesn't involve the police is Michael Green's effort to show Sikeston youths there are alternatives to crime and drugs. This valiant program offers a community center as a refuge from the mean streets, but it is a struggle. There are money needs, and there are people needs.

This is the time for folks in Sikeston who want to make a difference to step forward. If the situation is ever going to change for the better, it will be because law-abiding citizens cry out in unison: "No more!"

Other communities that are thanking their lucky stars they don't have the Sunset problem need to adopt a new attitude. The gangs in Sikeston are everyone's problem. If law enforcement and community efforts succeed, drug dealers will be searching for new markets once the heat turns up in Sikeston. That means the dope pushers in Sikeston will be looking at neighborhoods everywhere as potential territory ripe for a multimillion-dollar illegal enterprise.

Towns want new business to come to town. But this isn't it.

Southeast Missouri may think it is immune from big-city ills. A good many residents of the area are transplants -- refugees -- from cities where life among the criminals is unbearable. It is still safe to go out at night in most communities, but the conditions exist for the worst of urban ills, even if on a much smaller scale.

The biggest factor working in favor of criminals is a lackadaisical attitude of job-holding, tax-paying, law-abiding folks. If anyone feels too comfortable, it is because they choose to ignore the world around them.

The lessons of Sunset are a good education for all. The rest depends on how good a student this area is.