Cape chief Blair 'humbled' to lead state association of police officials

Cape Girardeau police chief Wes Blair will take charge of the Missouri Police Chiefs Association (MPCA), starting Tuesday.

Blair, who has held several leadership positions in the association, said he is "pretty humbled" to be heading up the association.

He said he doesn't know if he is the first Cape Girardeau chief to serve in that position, but he added he is the department's first chief to serve in that role in at least the last 19 years.

Blair said his new role with the association is a testament to the Cape Girardeau Police Department as a whole and its law-enforcement practices.

MPCA, founded in 1953, has some 600 members throughout the state, according to its website.

"We advocate for police chiefs across the state," Blair said, adding the group's director lobbies lawmakers on legislation of interest to police departments statewide.

"Our director spends most of the legislative session at the capitol," he said.

Statewide, recruiting police officers is a major concern, Blair said. "It is hard for everybody right now."

Metropolitan areas like St. Louis and Kansas City have a larger pool of applicants, he said.

But in other areas of the state, there is a much smaller pool of candidates for police positions.

Locally, most of the police recruits are graduates of the Law Enforcement Academy at Southeast Missouri State University, he said.

To boost recruitment, MPCA may partner with Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, to develop a statewide police academy.

As a historically black college, the institution might help attract more minority recruits to law enforcement, Blair said.

Missouri's police departments want to employ more minority officers, he said. But many departments have few if any minority candidates apply, according to Blair.

While recruitment is a challenge, Blair said it is important for police departments not to lower their standards.

Hiring unqualified individuals as police officers poses a greater risk for both departments and the communities they serve, he said.

"At some point, we may look at 911 funding," Blair said, suggesting the group could advocate for increased funding for the emergency systems.

"Missouri is the only state in the nation without a tax on cell phones (to help fund 911 systems)," he said.

Missouri has a tax on land lines. But with more and more Missourians dropping their land lines, there are fewer and fewer phone customers and less tax revenue to fund the emergency systems, he said, though costs of the system are not decreasing.

MPCA provides a variety of services to police departments.

It offers command-level training for police personnel, at the sergeant level and above, in partnership with Lincoln University.

As a state-recognized provider of accreditation for law enforcement agencies, MPCA works to increase professionalism of police officers and advocates best practices, according to its website.

The group administers the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program in Missouri's schools and also is "heavily involved" in Special Olympics, he said.

"We have our fingers in a lot of different things," Blair said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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