Cape Girardeau’s Gun Violence Task Force holds second meeting
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – You’ve probably heard of a drug dog but what about a gun dog? It is a dog that can sniff out a gun.
That was something that was discussed in Thursday’s Gun Violence Task Force meeting in Cape Girardeau. Scott Droddy is the K9 handler for Cape Girardeau Police Department. He shares how a gun dog would help the department decrease gun violence.
“They can locate guns, a lot easier than we can,” said Droddy.
He says a gun dog is trained to sniff out guns specifically which can help officers keep those with guns out of certain areas or events. He shares how a gun dog would assist at an event.
It’s Missouri. You’re allowed to have a gun,” he said. “If you have a CCW you can have a gun but if you want to come into a private event or a private party, if you want to partake in that you cannot have a firearm so like were turning people away and telling them to go lock it up in their car or you’re just not going to participate in it.”
If the Cape Girardeau Police Department was to get a gun dog, it would be the first in the area to have one. Droddy says that they are more common in western areas where they have bigger gun issues and with federal agencies.
He says Cape hopes to set the precedence for other communities on how they handle gun violence. A ShotSpotter presentation was given by Alfred Lewers of Sound Thinking. His company handles ShotSpotter equipment.
He and his team explained how a ShotSpotter works and showed data from Cape’s ShotSpotter. He says combatting gun violence as soon as you see a problem is important.
“You have a great plan on how you can address gun violence but it’s a strategy that you have to have in place,” said Lewers. “You got to have leadership, you got to be committed to it and you have to care before it hits home.”
According to data presented by Lewers, the ShotSpotter has helped the Cape Girardeau Police Department recover over a dozen guns and recover more than 300 shell casings in the course of a year. Shell casings are vital for an investigation because the department can send the casings off to be tested and receive information on the gun used. Lewers shares how the ShotSpotter program can help provide information for college campuses.
“Some of our university customers actually use the ShotSpotter data so that when a chancellor contacts the police chief he can say, ‘Yes we received the ShotSpotter alert, it was actually three blocks away, off of the campus.’”
Lewers says that with the help of community members and utilizing a gun dog along with the ShotSpotter center, it’s a great step to decreasing gun violence in the area.
Tap here to view the full meeting and get information on upcoming gun task force meetings.
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Cape Girardeau’s Gun Violence Task Force holds first meeting
