DRUGS CONTINUE TO BE COMPONENT OF AREA CRIME

Two recent reports in the Southeast Missourian -- one concerning the number of criminal cases filed by the Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney in 1993 and the other the number of criminal reports handled by Cape Girardeau police last year -- serve to show that illegal drug trafficking and use is a continuing problem in today's society.

Although a massive crackdown on drug trafficking took place in the Good Hope area of Cape Girardeau in 1992, bringing an unusually large number of people to justice for drug violations, statistics from both the prosecutor and police point to the fact that drug-related crimes and illegal drug dealing and possession remain a serious problem. Despite the drug crackdown the previous year, the number of narcotics arrests in 1993 outnumbered those of 1992 by six.

Drug-related crimes come in the form of assaults, thefts, robberies, burglaries and forgeries. Last year the largest percentage of cases filed by Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle's office -- 15 percent -- were stealing charges. And Swingle estimated that 80 percent of the burglaries and robberies his office filed charges for were committed by someone trying to get money for drugs.

Likewise, city police reported a significant increase in the number of reported robberies last year: 11 more than the number in 1992. Although Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr. said the increase largely may be due to the fact that the legal definition of robbery now encompasses such crimes as purse-snatching, you can be certain that most of those robberies were committed by people desperate for money to support their drug habit.

One wonders, however, how many more drug-related crimes would have been included in the 1993 police statistics had it not been for the eradication of the drug-and-crime haven in the 400 block of Good Hope early in 1993. Boyd said that clean-up, which followed the drug sweep in the area the previous year, alone reduced opportunity for crime and the kinds of crime that branch out from drug trade by eliminating the safe haven drug dealers and users were enjoying in the open-air market.

Swingle's caseload of drug cases undoubtedly would have been heavier had it not been that many of the major drug cases presented by the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and law enforcement officials were filed in U.S. District Court. Filing of federal charges against drug suspects became more convenient with establishment of an assistant U.S. attorney's office in Cape Girardeau, and the area is all the better for it.

Encouragingly, the number of burglaries committed in the city last year fell sharply from the preceding year, from 193 to 124, the second lowest burglary rate in 17 years. The decline can be attributed to getting a number of drug traffickers off the streets. As Boyd pointed out, "significant criminals," many of whom were drug offenders committing break-ins for drug money, were removed from the streets during the year.

Over the last couple of years, local and federal law enforcement agencies have come to grips with the area drug's problem. Drug dealing and use can only be taken into tow by tough enforcement and prosecution. Sadly, when major dealers are put away, someone is always waiting to step in and take their place.

The crackdown on drug trafficking by law enforcement must be a continual operation. Until the suppliers are out of commission, users will continue to prey upon innocent people to support their habit.