SUBSTATION: LOOK AT STATS A YEAR FROM NOW

With the opening of a substation, the Cape Girardeau Police Department not only is establishing a stronger presence in South Cape Girardeau, but it is embarking on a new direction as well.

The department recently dedicated a neighborhood substation at 629 Good Hope in an area of the city that needs strong police presence. Plans are to eventually open a second substation on the city's west side, possibly in or near West Park Mall.

Up until now, the department has operated strictly out of the central police station at 40 South Sprigg without any major inconveniences. Had it not been for a federal Weed and Seed program grant, the substation on Good Hope wouldn't exist today, but the money was available, and the city took advantage of it.

Never mind that the substation is less than three blocks from the police station. The grant was to serve as a primary source of funding for a substation in the Good Hope district because the U.S. Department of Justice identified the district as a high-crime area in need of police presence. In short, the city either used the money or lost it.

The substation will be open during working hours Mondays through Fridays, but police will work out of it during the night. Its hours will be extended during the summer when criminal activity in the Good Hope area typically increases. Police hope the extended hours in the summer will help reduce crime through people going to the substation to report crimes and ask and answer questions.

How effective the substation will be in reducing crime in the Good Hope area remains to be seen. What is important is that police are concentrating efforts on the targeted area, and that is the first step in reducing crime.

Up until the mid 1990s, when an undercover operation dubbed "Zero Tolerance" netted a slew of drug peddlers and buyers, there had not been a concerted police effort to reduce crime in the Good Hope area. The philosophy until then had been more of an if-needed-respond approach. Since then, the area has undergone some revitalization, police are present more often, and the result is that the area has become safer. Ideally, the stronger police presence will make the area even more safe.

The undertaking is one that the city needs to watch closely to determine precisely how effective this first substation really is in deterring crime. That should weigh heavily on any future decision to establish additional substations.