OFFICERS ALLOWED TO PURSUE CRIME MORE FORCEFULLY

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Sgt. Andy Cooper took off at 70 mph down Malone Avenue
more than once on a weekday night last summer. Whether it was a report of
an assault with a shotgun or an accident with injuries, Cooper was in a hurry.

"Tonight isn't nothing," he said, cruising in and out of business and
residential areas. "Wait until Friday night, when everyone gets a paycheck.
Then we'll be busy."

The 65-officer Department of Public Safety has been busy for a long time.
Since 1979, fire and police departments have been combined and every
officer is trained for both jobs.

Cooper, who came to Sikeston from Dexter's police department about five
years ago, enjoys pulling his firefighter's gear out of the trunk of his
patrol car. It provides a change of pace, he said.

Since veteran Sikeston officer Drew Juden became chief of the Department of
Public Safety in April, the pace has quickened, Cooper said. Officers are
being given more opportunities to pursue crime more aggressively.

Cooper is at the forefront of one of these efforts to clean up Sikeston. He
supervises a "power squad," which involves a small group of patrol
officers, a K-9 unit and detectives who are given special assignments.

Although the squad's duties can vary, Juden said they're mostly about
drugs, because they are the source of other crimes.

"About 75 percent of all our crimes are drug-related now," he said.
"They're chasing the dollar."

The power squads had existed at the department before, but were reinstated
by Juden. They exemplify the police evolving to meet criminals' changing
tactics.

Normally, four to seven officers work on a power shift, which is from 10 to
6 during the day and from 6 to 2 at night.

With the power squad schedule overlapping other shifts, it has allowed more
flexibility in scheduling, Juden said. Shift commanders use the squads to
relieve officers who would otherwise spend extra hours of overtime
investigating an incident near the end of their scheduled workday. This
cuts down on officer fatigue and poor decisions that can result, Juden said.

Welcome changes

Cooper appreciates the changes made at his department and by city officials
in the past year. He thought it was a good idea for the city council to
write an open letter to the community -- it took up more than a full
newspaper page -- warning criminals that they wouldn't tolerate their
activities any longer. The letter ran in the Standard Democrat, Sikeston's
daily newspaper, in September 2000.

"I think it lets the community know that as a city we're not perfect, but
we know our problems and were trying to address them," he said.

He said he has seen results over the past two years, with more West End
residents calling to report people who they perceive are dealing drugs.

Cooper goes about his job aggressively, not letting minor traffic violators
get away.

After a 27-year-old man makes a turn without using his signal, Cooper
followed him and noticed that he switched places with the passenger as the
truck kept moving.

"He's just tired of getting hits on his parole," Cooper explained.

After stopping, the driver-turned-passenger allowed Cooper to search the
vehicle. Nothing was found.

"I told him he's lucky," Cooper said. "He's not going to jail tonight."

'Not really different'

After Cooper returned to the department for midnight roll call and a
briefing by a lieutenant, a woman called to report her ex-husband was
outside her home and said he had a shotgun. Cooper, the lieutenant and a
few other officers sped down Malone to a quiet, east Sikeston neighborhood
in the 200 block of Ashley. The drunken man was found standing at a gate to
the backyard of the woman's home. No gun was found.

"We're not really different from any other town," Cooper said after another
officer arrested the ex-husband for trespassing. "This sort of thing
happens everywhere."

Although he has been on patrol only five years in Sikeston, Cooper said he
has been in town long enough to see problem youth come, and go, and return.

"I haven't been here five years, and I've saw a lot of these young faces
grow up," he said.

For some, the back seat of his patrol car has become a familiar spot.

As he recently drove past an arcade that became the site of a seven-hour
police standoff in June, Cooper said most of those standing on the street
were familiar to him.

"The 800 block of Ruth is a trouble area," he said. "There's just not a lot
for kids to do here."