CAPE POLICE CHIEF RESIGNING

Cape Girardeau police chief Rick Hetzel, a 27-year veteran of law enforcement, said Wednesday he is resigning to become public relations director at St. Francis Medical Center.

"I've turned down other opportunities to leave Cape in the past year, but this allows me to keep Cape as my home," Hetzel said.

He will continue as police chief through May 31.

City manager Mike Miller said he learned of Hetzel's plans Wednesday.

"There's always a chance that a staff member will leave," Miller said. "I think he's well suited for the new job."

Cape Girardeau also is losing fire chief Dan White, whose last day on the job is today. White, who is moving to Arkansas to be closer to relatives, came to Cape Girardeau a month before Hetzel began as police chief.

Hetzel's announcement comes as a Washington, D.C., consulting firm continues to compile information for an evaluation of police department operations. The evaluation, which is expected to be complete by June, was prompted by a high turnover of police officers.

The study had nothing to do with his decision to leave, Hetzel said.

"The decision to bring in an outside team to do an evaluation was wise and progressive," he said. "I recommended the study as a tool we can use to build a better police department for the future."

Hetzel said he weighed the change in careers carefully before choosing to leave police work. He served in the Army as a criminal investigator for 17 years and was police chief in Norcross, Ga., before moving to Cape Girardeau in 1997.

"I'll miss the camaraderie that exists in law enforcement," he said. "I'll also miss the sense of service you get from protecting a community."

However, he cited the opportunity to continue serving the area through the hospital as a similar task.

The hospital has been conducting a national search for a public relations director since last summer, said Barbara Thompson, vice president of marketing. Until then, responsibilities for marketing and public relations had been combined in one position.

"Rick brings a great deal of experience in community relations to this job," Thompson said.

Miller said Hetzel's annual salary as police chief was $59,818. Thompson declined to state how much he will earn as public relations director.

Miller anticipates that a new police chief will be hired before the end of the summer.

Developing advertisements for a national candidate search should take about a month, and it will take another month before resumes start to arrive, he said.

"We'll survey the people in the department to see what they want in a chief," Miller said.

Hetzel's predecessor, Howard "Butch" Boyd, retired from the police department in 1996 to become director of security for Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.