MAYOR'S JAIL PROPOSAL APPEARS TO BE FEASIBLE

On the heels of a study that looked at ways to improve operations of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Mayor Al Spradling III has suggested city jail prisoners could be housed in the new Cape Girardeau County Jail at Jackson.

The county sheriff, John Jordan, says he isn't ready to take on Cape Girardeau's prisoners because the jail often is close to capacity with its own inmates and federal inmates it is committed to hold, and there isn't enough space for all the female prisoners. Five to eight women usually are being housed in the Mississippi County Jail at Charleston, Mo., at a cost of $35 per day, he says.

The county jail can hold 152 prisoners. The county guarantees 42 beds for federal prisoners under a contract with the U.S. Marshal's Service. The new jail can house only 10 female prisoners, but six two-person cells have been renovated in the old jail to accommodate more females. They won't be put into use until fire alarms in the old jail are upgraded, says the sheriff.

The jail was opened just five months ago, and the sheriff says he wants to test the jail population for a year before further discussing the possibility of taking Cape Girardeau's prisoners.

The study that precipitated the mayor's suggestion was done by the Police Executive Research Forum of Washington, D.C. It found fault with a number of police department operations including the city jail, which, it said, is too dirty, not handicapped accessible and needs more jailers for better security. The jail, located in the police station at 40 S. Sprigg St., is designed to hold 30 prisoners but often holds more. The jail shows signs of aging, and its cells are cramped when the jail is full.

The possibility of housing prisoners in the county jail hasn't been discussed by the Cape Girardeau City Council, and the city hasn't approached the county about the possibility. Spradling merely suggested an arrangement with the county in view of the study's findings, with an eye of the city saving money by paying the county to keep its prisoners.

The proposal appears feasible to both parties providing the county jail can adequately accommodate the city prisoners. Spradling's proposal would solve the city's problem without Cape Girardeau having to spend millions of dollars to build a new jail. The county built the jail to make money housing others' prisoners, and to that end the county would benefit.

Perhaps both parties can take up the issue seriously after the jail is open for a while.