Investigator deserves same pay

To the editor:I fail to see just what the problem is with the Cape Girardeau County prosecutor's investigator, John Volkerding, getting the same raise as the other deputies.

No one seems to be too concerned about his status when the Major Case Squad is called out for a critical investigation, and Volkerding gets the same 2 a.m. call-up as all the other members. There doesn't seem to be much discussion about pay issues when he works the same 24 hours a day the other investigators work until the case is broken and a dangerous criminal is in jail.

We have one of the best county prosecutor's offices in Missouri and the Midwest under Morley Swingle, and Volkerding is a major reason why we do. He's the man who does pretrial follow-up investigations, makes sure witnesses show up and in general guides the case through trial so some really bad people don't wind up back on our streets.

Volkerding deserves the same raise everyone else got, and the taxpayers voted the money for that purpose. Refusing to pay a good and effective man the same as others is small and not worthy of the commissioners. Pay the man. He gives us a lot more than our money's worth.

DAVE FARIS, Cape Girardeau