WLL-TRAINED OFFICERS, BITTER PROSECUTING STAFF GET RESULTS

Law enforcement agencies and the prosecutor's office can be proud of the fact that a record number of criminal cases were filed in Cape Girardeau County last year. It indicates both are doing commendable jobs.

The staff of Cape Girardeau County's prosecuting attorney, Morley Swingle, brought 2,050 felony and misdemeanor charges in 1996, 100 more than were filed in 1995. That includes 335 drunken-driving cases but not other traffic violations. The numbers have been steadily growing since 1992.

In fact, criminal filings throughout the 32nd Judicial Circuit were up last year. In the other two counties of circuit -- Perry and Bollinger -- the number of filings was up 25 percent and 50 percent, respectively, over 1995.

The increased number of filings can be traced to more efficient and well-trained police agencies, and, in the case of Cape Girardeau County, an aggressive prosecutor's office, which added an assistant prosecutor last year.

Law enforcement also is much more sophisticated today, and computers are widely used. A wealth of information -- from a nationwide network of wanted persons to details of local criminal investigations -- is available to officers at the touch of a button.

Crime laboratories such as the Southeast Missouri Regional Crime Lab at Southeast Missouri State University also have played a big role. Police investigators rely heavily on accurate analyses of evidence by labs before determining whether to seek charges against suspects in certain cases. Prosecutors rely upon expert testimony of examiners in proving criminal cases. On both counts the crime lab in Cape Girardeau has been invaluable.

More of the people who are committing crimes are being caught. And that message alone can help serve as a deterrent to criminal elements.