Cape Girardeau police issuing fewer tickets each year

The number of municipal tickets written by Cape Girardeau officers has dropped steadily over the past four years, and police personnel point to fewer officers on the street as a possible reason for the decline.

According to numbers provided by Sgt. Jason Selzer, spokesman for the police department, officers issued more than 4,000 fewer tickets in 2008 than in 2006. Through the first week of August, more than 25 percent fewer traffic tickets have been written per month than in 2006.

The city has also seen a 35 percent drop in parking tickets issued monthly so far in 2009, with an average of about 140 parking tickets per month this year.

For other municipal ordinance violations, there were more than 40 percent fewer summonses issued per month in 2009 through Aug. 6 compared to the numbers from 2006.

With fewer tickets being issued each year, fewer cases are being filed by city prosecutors, meaning less revenue generated by fines.

According to Cape Girardeau municipal court clerk Jenea Stafford, there were 13,637 municipal cases filed in 2006, 12,423 in 2007, 10,500 last year and 5,417 as of July 31 this year.

Cape Girardeau police chief Carl Kinnison said he's aware the number of tickets handed out in the city has been on the decline.

"We don't write tickets for revenue; we write tickets to change behavior," Kinnison said. "Our goal would be to write zero tickets."

The city used to have two full-time "ticket-writers," Kinnison said, but shifting positions in the department have cut that down to one person whose sole job is to issue citations.

There have also been fewer traffic accidents in the city, which Kinnison cited as another potential cause of the decline.

Recent budget constraints have reduced the number of patrol officers on the street from 41 to 39. The city hasn't added a patrol position since 1996, Kinnison said.

A 1/4-cent sales tax passed by Cape Girardeau voters in 2004 generated an estimated $10 million for operating costs for public safety departments, but Kinnison said that money will go toward salary adjustments and patrol vehicles, not to fund staffing increases.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

388-3635

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