Police chief Blair leaves legacy of community engagement

Cape Girardeau police chief Wes Blair gives a speech about mental health for police officers at the Respect for Law event hosted by The Evening Optimist Club on May 16 at the VFW Banquet Hall in Cape Girardeau. Blair is leaving in August for a position with the Memphis International Airport in Tennessee.

Nathan Gladden ~ ngladden@semissourian.com, file

Cape Girardeau police chief Wes Blair will leave his position in August to take a job with the Memphis International Airport in Tennessee. Before he leaves, Blair reflected on his time in Cape Girardeau and the changes he has seen with the department.

Blair, who will be close to reaching the 11-year mark as police chief, said while “on paper” he will be retired, he’s not done with his career.

“Eleven years as a police chief in any organization is a very long time. And so I think it’s, it’s important to recognize that sometimes a place needs a little bit of fresh blood,” Blair said.

He said he received advice from a fellow police chief who has since passed away regarding his time in his position. Blair said he was told you should always leave when you’re liked and respected since you don’t want to be run out.

“I feel like things are going well for this department. Obviously, there are things that can be much better but, by and large, things are going pretty well,” Blair said. “It’s kind of nice to be able to pick your time to go.”

Blair looked back on the changes, including the different technologies the department now employs and the building being used. He said when he started as chief, the department operated out of a “dilapidated building” with very old laptops and the officers didn’t have body cameras.

Blair noted the department also didn’t have ShotSpotter or the additions of its flock technology. While Blair is happy with these improvements, he recognizes the department has also made major improvements in terms of mental health for police officers and also the community.

“Police officers are historically reluctant to embrace the fact that they might be dealing with mental health issues based on the trauma that they see on the community. So it took several years but, you know, our officers understand and appreciate that now,” Blair said. “We do our mental wellness conference. We require biannual mental health check-ins with counselors, we have a peer support program. Now that officer can go to another officer, especially if they’re struggling with stuff. And that was something that not even just here, but you just didn’t see anywhere in our country. And we were early adaptors to embracing the notion that a mentally healthy police officer is a better police officer for the community.”

Blair said while the department has made strides in that area, it’s also making strides in its community with the Co-Responder Unit that was in partnership with Community Counseling Center. Even though the grant funding has run out, the police department will take over the program and the co-responders will still be employed.

“Hopefully, even after I’m gone, we can expand that service so that we can help people more because a lot of people don’t need to go to the hospital or go to jail with mental health,” Blair said. “They sometimes just need to be directed to a resource and we’ve been able to do that for them and that’s not a traditional police role.”

Blair said his continuing education may have resulted in expanding his perspective in terms of embracing mental health. He said 10 years ago he may have been more resistant to that. Blair received his doctoral degree in criminal justice earlier this year.

He said he has seen many national events that have affected the police department, such as the killing of George Floyd and COVID-19. Blair said a lot of negative attention police have gotten, noting “some very well deserved” has affected policing, making recruiting much more difficult.

“It’s hard to convince young people that are looking for a career, you go to this career, where you, one, don’t make a whole lot of money, you work horrible shifts, are exposed to the trauma that you are exposed to and the perception is that the community hates you,” Blair said. “I think that makes recruiting harder. Now, the reality is our local community actually loves and embraces our police department.”

He said paying for people’s police academies and offering some sign-on bonuses to become more competitive has helped to curb some of those recruiting difficulties. Blair also said the best recruiting tool has been the officers in the department.

He said a problem a new recruit could face is the perception of a lack of safety in the community. Blair said while there have been “some pretty violent shootings” in the last few months, he believes Cape Girardeau is largely still a safe community.

He said the staff does a phenomenal job and would put them up against any department of a similar size.

Blair said the advice he would give to his replacement is that the force doesn’t need a micromanager.

“(The person) coming here, love, love your staff. Love the community, listen to your community, listen to your staff, and then get out the staff’s way and let them do their jobs because they know what they’re doing,” Blair said.

He said he hopes his legacy with the police department is centered around community engagement.

“This police department really is the servant or a servant to this community. When I send out emails or even to media, sometimes, I never refer to it as the community I always refer to it as our community and if our officers embrace that, as this is our community, and we’re working for our community to make our community better and they have that in their mindset, I think that’s a pretty great legacy. Because it shows we’re all working together to make Cape Girardeau a great place,” Blair said.

Blair said while he’s taking a job somewhere else, he is still keeping his house in Cape Girardeau and will be back while he can. He said he still considers Cape Girardeau his community it will just be as a citizen.