STREET ADDRESS CRUSADE BEGINS

Cape Girardeau law enforcement and fire officials are conducting a campaign to boost compliance with the city ordinance requiring posting of street addresses on residences.

A recent survey of 816 city homes by the Cape Girardeau Fire Department showed only 494 had street addresses correctly posted on the front of the home or above the garage door.

"That works out to about 60 percent compliance," said Cape Girardeau Fire Chief Robert L. Ridgeway. "We think we can do a lot better than that."

Beginning today, police and fire officials will "remind" area residents who do not have house numbers posted at all, or whose houses are improperly posted to remedy the situation soon.

Ridgeway and Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr. said there are plenty of good reasons for people to comply with the ordinance.

"There's nothing more frustrating for an emergency responder than to get an emergency call, arrive in the area, and then not be able to find the house because the address is not posted," Ridgeway said. "In some situations, it can truly mean the difference between life and death."

Homes should post Arabic numbers at least four inches in height and in a color that contrasts with the building. The numbers should be posted above or near the doorway or above an adjacent garage door.

For homes set off the street or rural homes a considerable distance off the main road, markers should be placed in the front yard or mailboxes should be clearly marked with four-inch numbering.

"Those script numbers that were so popular a few years ago won't do," said Boyd. "The ordinance specifies that the numbers must be Arabic numerals."

Businesses also are required to be clearly numbered, Ridgeway said. The ordinance calls for businesses to be numbered with six-inch Arabic numerals above the front entrance or on the front door. Ridgeway asks that businesses also be numbered at the rear entrance of the building for fire and other emergency purposes.

When Boyd was asked if there have been instances when officers cannot locate a complainant's address, he replied: "It happens every day. Our officers will know they are in the right hundred block of the street and not be able to find the house because none of them are numbered. But we find them we always do."

Firefighters cannot always follow smoke trails to places they are dispatched to. Since the department has recently assumed the responsibility of responding to emergency medical service calls, it too relies heavily on proper street numbering to arrive on the scene as quickly as possible.

"In a situation like a heart attack, seconds count," said Ridgeway. "If we have to drive up and down the street to find the address, it could be very costly."

Speaking of costly, the municipal fine for a violation of the house number ordinance is a maximum of $500 and/or 9 months in jail.

"But our goal here is not to write summonses," said Boyd. "Most people are not in compliance with the ordinance for one of two reasons either they don't know about the ordinance or they don't realize that their house is not properly numbered.

"In the next couple months, if the homes we report to are not numbered, we'll remind them when we leave," Boyd said.

Sgt. Carl Kinnison of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said the numbering campaign will continue until the end of October.

"At that time, we will survey the same 816 homes to see if anything has changed," Kinnison said.

Meanwhile, fliers will be distributed at some local retail stores, emergency services personnel will hand out information to homes they respond to, and all presentations by the police and fire departments in the next two months will stress the need for proper house numbering.

The campaign goes along with the new E911 system the police department is installing, which will display the origin of the 911 call to dispatchers.

"It's common sense," Ridgeway said. "If there's a fire or emergency at your home, by golly we want to get there as soon as possible."