COOPERATIVE ENDEAVOR HELPS IN FIGHTING CRIME

Of all governmental record keeping, we find none more grim or demeaning to civilized existence than recent tallies of climbing homicide rates. In New York, where daily murder counts reach double digits, in St. Louis, where killings threaten to set a record in 1991, across the nation and even in this typically placid area, the human-produced mortality is depressing. Answering this condition are abstract social answers on one hand, and law enforcement agencies equipped for deterrence and discovery on the other. While the mysteries of violence remain elusive, we can at least applaud the area's Major Case Squad for concepts and practices that aim to better the situation.

The Major Case Squad was formed in the early 1980s and takes in the law enforcement resources of Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties, the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson and the Missouri Highway Patrol. The idea driving the squad is that the agencies' combined investigative wherewithal can inundate a crime scene promptly in order to bring away every clue possible. No agency within this jurisdiction will ever have to do less than its best job for lack of manpower in the early going of a criminal inquiry.

This concept has paid off locally. Of the first five times the Major Case Squad was called into action to investigate homicides, beginning with the killing of Wisconsin truck driver Kenneth Wood on Interstate 55 in November 1983, arrests were made in every instance. Only in its most recent activation, for the murder of a 66-year-old man near Whitewater earlier this month, did the squad fail to yield a suspect.

There are intangible benefits to this concept as well. The communication required to sustain the Major Case Squad enhances all communication between neighboring law en~force~ment bodies. If these agencies have formed a working relationship on big cases, the sense of cooperation should carry over to other areas of mutual endeavor.

The Major Case Squad is team play at its best and efficient utilization of public money at its fullest. While no arrest has been made in the most recent murder the squad investigated, it is possible some clue gathered by the unit will ultimately shed light on the crime. We hope this cooperative effort to fight crime continues.