JUSTICE REPORT ON MELEE COULD EASE TENSIONS

It has been eight months since a near-riot on Good Hope Street left several individuals injured and resulted in arrests and subsequent prosecutions. Even though the FBI interviewed dozens of witnesses and participants in the month following the melee, there is still no official finding from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding possible civil-rights violations.

The FBI was asked by Police Chief Richard Hetzel to investigate whether any civil-rights violations occurred. In the aftermath of the incident, involving at least 150 people, there were accusations that the police overstepped their authority or used excessive force in dealing with the situation. The Southeast Missourian encouraged such an investigation by an outside agency as a way to gather facts without local emotion.

In commenting last week about the investigation, Special Agent Gary Fuhr of the FBI's St. Louis office said, "Say you have some sort of racial problems going on in Los Angeles. This process allows that the decision will not necessarily be influenced by what's going on locally."

Perhaps Fuhr has some inside knowledge about the current turmoil within the Los Angeles Police Department, which this week asked the FBI to investigate. The LAPD sought the FBI's help for many of the same reasons Chief Hetzel turned to the agency: an unbiased analysis of what happened. Let's hope Los Angeles can get speedier service.

The police department here has done its own investigation into that June 11 night outside the Taste Restaurant & Lounge on Good Hope Street. All of the Cape Girardeau officers involved are still on the police force. No local charges have been filed against them.

After eight months of reviewing the interviews with dozens of Taste Lounge customers, area residents and law enforcement officers, and after repeated requests for progress reports on the status of the investigation, the Southeast Missourian learned last week that copies of the FBI's investigation interviews had been given to Cape Girardeau County Prosecutor Morley Swingle. It also was learned that the police department had a copy of the reports, although Hetzel said he had not read them.

At a recent party for a retiring Cape Girardeau FBI agent, a community leader inquired about the investigation. An FBI agent held up a copy of the report but didn't let the community leader read it. Little did the community leader know that the report was being read by numerous individuals who obtained copies from lawyers involved in the defense of some of those who had been arrested on Good Hope Street.

The police department asked for the outside investigation for good reasons. All but the last two cases have been adjudicated. Those two are set for May in Jefferson and Boone counties on changes of venue. Meanwhile, the community at large is left waiting for word from the Justice Department. Those findings could go a long way in resolving some of the tension that still exists.