Brave service

It's not often that Cape Girardeau sees the type of drama that unfolded recently with the attack of a woman on a walking trail, a corresponding search for a suspect, a police chase near a school and a public, self-inflicted shooting that eventually resulted in the death of the criminal.

All things considered, the incident could have been much, much worse.

Any time there is an incident such as the one that took place on March 6, it's natural for people to question police methods. In this instance, some questioned whether there should have been a chase at all. Others wondered if police were too aggressive in driving a patrol car at the suspect when he pulled a gun.

These questions are natural, fair and healthy, not just from the public but from police management. Did we do the right thing? What else could have been done? Were procedures followed?

But the review and follow-up discussion is the easy part; it requires analysis and knowledge, not courage. It's easy to ask the questions when no one is pointing a weapon at you.

What's hard is what our city police officers faced that day.

From the police point of view, an alleged would-be rapist had been identified and confronted. He smashed into the police car in his attempt to escape police. Clearly, this person was a dangerous and desperate individual. The chase has been described as low-speed. To clarify, the suspect was driving 10 to 15 mph over the speed limit, but according to police the driver was not out of control. The police department does formal reviews on every pursuit to make sure officers' reactions were in compliance. The review of this matter, according to chief Carl Kinnison, determined the officers acted appropriately.

During the pursuit, one officer was dispatched to place "stop sticks" on a street to blow the tires on the suspect's car. When this was done, the suspect swerved to try to hit the officer; he was able to jump out of the way to avoid injury. Later, once the suspect got out of his vehicle after his tires were flattened, he pointed a gun at an officer, who was still in the car.

In our view, that was a life-threatening situation, not just to police, but to bystanders as well. The police at that point had to end that situation, and they had to rely on training and instincts. The officer drove his car into the suspect. Then the man turned the gun on himself. According to police reports, this account was verified by several witnesses.

We're not in a good position to judge whether the police followed every protocol in the book, from the time the initial attack took place until the time the man shot himself in a parking lot. According to police management, the officers did what was necessary. We believe that is true.

Beyond the protocol, we also believe that these officers should be commended for their courage. These brave men put our safety on their shoulders that day. Their lives were threatened. In the end, only one person was hurt, a man who, based on odd behavior that was reported by a few women following the initial attack, might have turned into a serial rapist.

We'd like to thank the officers who were involved in this situation for their bravery and for stopping this man. Even though dramas like this don't happen often in Cape Girardeau, March 6 was a reminder of the risk that our officers take every day they put on the uniform.