Gun Violence Task Force gives recommendations to Cape City Council, highlights juvenile gun law, police resources

This story has been updated with more information on the Gun Violence Task Force's recommendations.

Giving more resources to law enforcement, bolstering efforts in enforcing the city's nuisance policy and advocating for juvenile justice reform were among the recommendations made by the Gun Violence Task Force on Tuesday, Jan. 21, to the Cape Girardeau City Council.

Task Force co-chairman Adam Kidd said a situation with a gun is on a "razor's edge".

"It could go bad really, really quickly, and it could be resolved in any manner that was unharmful, but it's it's really tenuous," Kidd said.

He said the committee listened to leaders in different parts of the community, including courts, prosecution, schools and not-for-profit organizations.

As one of the main points of the presentation, Kidd said the police department, the city and the juvenile office need to work closely together on juvenile justice reform. Kidd mentioned more than once that a child of any age can legally walk down the street with a gun in their hand. He said it's not a question of if that action is legal but if "it bothers us".

Cape Girardeau chief of police Adam Glueck also spoke to the council for the presentation. He said Missouri prohibits "recklessly" selling or giving firearms to individuals younger than 18, but it doesn't restrict the children from carrying them.

Glueck also said he would like to see the ShotSpotter coverage area expanded, but acknowledged that would cost money. ShotSpotter is currently used for two coverage areas in the city and is used to track possible gunfire in Cape Girardeau.

Another part of the Task Force's recommendations was public awareness, including residents securing guns and not leaving firearms unattended in vehicles. Glueck presented a slide including information that states "In Cape this past fall, average was one stolen gun from a vehicle each week".

Co-chairwoman Jessica Hill said the committee would like to see more residences and businesses take advantage of registering their security cameras with the police department so they can provide information when an incident occurs near them. Hill also called for the addition of a real-time crime center.

Glueck said registering a person's security camera doesn't give them access to it but streamlines the process of finding footage of an incident. He said the real-time crime center is different from a dispatcher.

"It's a different location where we could pool all these different resources that we have together, and actually have somebody there at the helm that can help direct police resources to these different areas," Glueck said.

He said ShotSpotter data and other information could be incorporated to help direct police in certain events

Kidd also pointed out several programs Cape Girardeau Public Schools offers to students. He said it provides a "host of counseling services" and does things such as providing food after school and providing clothing.