Cape Girardeau City Council approves contracts to help Cape police

Cape Girardeau City Council members voted unanimously at their meeting Monday, Nov. 7, to provide more money for the police department to expand the city's ShotSpotter program and for a subscription service for a camera system.

Councilman Nate Thomas was absent from the meeting.

The approved amendment is for the expansion of the ShotSpotter system — technology used by officers to help determine where and when shots are fired in portions of Cape Girardeau. The subscription is for new camera systems with automatic license plate reader technology. Combined, the two programs account for around $480,000 of the more than $600,000 American Rescue Plan Act funds allocated to the police department by council members earlier this fall.

"These tools will be extremely beneficial in helping our department abate crime in our city," Cpl. Ryan Droege, public information officer for the police department, said in an email prior to the council meeting.

At the meeting, Councilman Robbie Guard — a vocal supporter of allocating all of the city's $1.4 million in ARPA funds to public safety — praised police chief Wes Blair and his staff for looking to utilize new technology.

"I urge the chief to bring more opportunities for innovation whenever you see fit," Guard said.

No timetable has been set for when the programs will be implemented, Droege said.

ShotSpotter expansion

The system was first approved by council members in January with an initial contract of $178,200 for 1.2 square-mile area in downtown Cape Girardeau. The initial agreement was also paid for by ARPA funds. ShotSpotter went live in Cape Girardeau in April.

The expansion would more than double the coverage area of the technology, adding an additional 1.48 square miles on the same three-year cycle as the initial contract. One portion of the expanded territory will be a 0.48 square-mile area directly west of South West End Boulevard extending to Kingshighway. The other portion is a 1 square-mile area around Arena Park. The expansion will cost $249,300.

"Expanding its coverage will only increase our ability to get violent offenders off the streets," Droege said.

The public information officer said ShotSpotter has directly led to 13 arrests and the confiscation of 10 firearms since it first went live in April.

Sensors in the coverage area will detect and locate noises that might be gunshot activity and send that information to ShotSpotter's Incident Review Center. From there, the information is analyzed and, if found to be credible gunshots, sent to the 911 Communications Center and patrol officers' tablets. The entire process is designed to take 1 minute or less.

Presenting the police department's mid-year report to council members earlier this year, Blair said only 26% of gunshots detected by ShotSpotter up until June 30 came with an accompanying 911 call.

Camera system

The camera/license plate reader contract is for a subscription-based service with Flock Group Inc. The three-year agreement will cost $231,600.

According to the meeting agenda, the infrastructure-free cameras will be placed "strategically" within the city to help detect movement of vehicles involved in criminal activity. The system will work in tandem with ShotSpotter.

The subscription will also allow the department to tap into a network of information from other municipalities using the technology that will help with missing-person searches and detecting suspects fleeing other jurisdictions, among other things. The technology is being used by numerous agencies in the St. Louis area.

"The quicker we get information, the quicker we can take violent criminals off of the street," Droege said of the new camera system.