LET POLICE CHIEF CITE RUNDOWN BUILDINGS

For law enforcement to effectively fight crime, it must have at its disposal every tool available, and that includes laws that make it difficult for criminals to operate.

It recently was brought to the Cape Girardeau City Council's attention that the police chief doesn't have the authority to initiate formal complaints concerning rundown property under the city's building maintenance code. In most cities anyone can file a complaint, but in Cape Girardeau only tenants or patrons of commercial property or residents living within 200 feet of a dilapidated building can complain.

It is surprising that Cape Girardeau's minimum building maintenance code so severely restricts who can initiate a complaint. It is even more surprising that the police department -- through the chief of police -- can't do so.

Police Chief Rick Hetzel wants the power to file complaints concerning rundown buildings, which sometimes are used by criminals -- more specifically, drug dealers and manufacturers of illegal methamphetamines.

Police usually can do nothing when they respond to citizens' complaints about suspected criminal activity going on in rundown houses. They can put the house under surveillance but can't always gather enough evidence to get a search warrant.

With the police chief being able to file a complaint, an officer called to a nuisance building could report his findings to the chief, who could use the officer's observations as the basis for a formal complaint.

Once a complaint is filed the property owner is given five days notice before the city inspects the building. The result: Either the property owner looks into the problem or the city pays a visit to the property. In either case, any illegal activity will cease by those who don't want to get caught, and they will vacate the premises.

As Hetzel told the City Council recently, changing the minimum maintenance code to allow the chief to initiate complaints won't eliminate crime, but it would move it around and generally make criminals' lives more difficult.

The procedure has helped police fight crime in many cities across the country, and it would do the same for Cape Girardeau. The City Council can do its part by amending the minimum maintenance standard code so that it doesn't so severely restrict who can bring complaints.