Cape Girardeau’s top cop talks about keeping the city safe, mental health & being a dad

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – He is Cape Girardeau’s top cop, Chief of Police Wes Blair.  

In a one-on-one interview you will only see FOX23 News, he opens up about keeping the city safe, new programs at the police department and his favorite subject – being a dad. 

He is nearly a 30-year veteran of law enforcement who took over as chief of police in Cape Girardeau in July of 2013.  

“I think we’ve accomplished a lot of good stuff in last 10 years,” said Chief Blair. “This is a really good department of folks and they do incredible stuff.” 

He’s a Texas native who initially never saw himself living in a cozy little town like this. 

“It took me three years to even learn how to say Girardeau,” he said.  

But now 11 years later, Chief of Police Wes Blair says he couldn’t be more proud to call Cape Girardeau home.  

“I just want to give back to it because it has really blessed me and my family,” said Chief Blair. 

We sat down in his office to talk about challenges and triumphs he’s seen during his career — including recent violence including the February 27 shooting near CVS Pharmacy that left one person injured and a teenager dead.  

“We do live in a more violent era than I have seen in my career but we are in Cape Girardeau and that’s where our focus has to be,” said Blair.  

He says he wants to reassure people that they can feel safe in Cape — including the growing area downtown. 

“There’s not a reason they shouldn’t feel safe,” said Chief Blair. “We have invested in patrols down there. We’ve invested in technology down there. We have that area covered with our ShotSpotter system. Plus there’s other cameras down there to invest in the safety of our downtown.” 

He says along with the ramped up technology, he’s most excited about the advancement and strides the department is making when it comes to mental health including the co-responders unit. 

“From the research that we’ve done, we are probably the most rural communities in the U.S. with a Co-responder Unit,” he said.  

The Co-responder Unit is a collaboration with the Community Counseling Center – a mission to immediately connect those in a mental health crisis with not just help, but the best help to meet their needs. 

“So what that is, is we have embedded psychologists and social workers in our police department to handle those calls that prior to them an officer was spending over an hour with people who were having mental health issues and we aren’t mental health professionals,” said Chief Blair. 

Blair says a year into it they’ve tracked the statistics and they are staggering. 

“One of the benefits for us is we have taken the time an officer is investing from 63 minutes per call down to 13 minute per call – time is still being invested with that person but it’s with someone that is of better service to that person,” said Chief Blair. 

Cape Girardeau police also sends their officers to mental health conferences for first responders. 

“The mental health stigma in the community – there’s a stigma – and there’s an even bigger issue in law enforcement that if you have a mental health issue you’re not fit to do this job or if something bothers you you’re not fit to do this job well our police and fire fighters are still human,” said Chief Blair. 

Chief Blair says he knows it’s a tough time to be in law enforcement. That includes finding ways to recruit and retain good men and women. He says it was hard to see the recent tax levy fail that would have given police and fire fighters a raise of at least 8 percent.  

He says he knows the community is still behind his department and they are moving forward:  

“I understand that nobody wants taxes raised,” said Chief Blair. “I appreciate that we are still in the same position we were in before the vote. We are still the lowest paid agency in the surrounding area. We’ve got to find a way to fix that.” 

When he’s off duty, his number one commitment is being a father to his 20-year-old son Bryce, a student at Southeast Missouri State University. He says as he gets older their great conversations is one of he things he enjoys most in the world.  

His men and women in blue are just passionate about protecting and serving the families of Cape.  

“We are a part of your community. We are here because we care about this community. This isn’t just a job. It’s a way of doing something that is bigger than ourselves,” he said. 

Look for more coverage on the Co-responders Unit in May during Mental Health Month. The CRU is funded in partnership with the Community Counseling Center.  

Blair says he is also excited about the Citizens Police Academy, something that’s actually helped them recruit new men and women.  

He says helping the force fight crime is as easy as speaking up. If you see something, don’t assume someone has already provided the information to police.