‘Legends’ Apartment Complex in Cape Girardeau Hosts Forum and Responds to Crime Concerns

Nearly two weeks after a shooting incident at the Legends apartment complex, management hosted an open forum to address residents’ safety concerns on January 31 at 4 p.m. at the Legends Clubhouse.

At the meeting, residents and parents of residents expressed concerns about the resort’s recent security measures, tenant selection processes, and management communication.

Police officers from Cape Girardeau and new managers of the Legends were present at the meeting to answer questions.

Corporal Richard Couch of the Cape Girardeau Police Department (PD) said he is still investigating the January 18 shooting incident to Legends, in which a man was injured in a physical altercation with a man carrying a gun.

“We couldn’t find the guy with the gun. Nobody told us where he went, except [telling us] he entered the building,” Couch said. “He entered the building, out of camera range, and disappeared. We have preliminary information that it was a drug deal gone wrong.

Security measures

Cape PD has patrolled the Legends property since the incident, but will stop patrolling the property after Jan. 31 when private security company, 5th Meridian Group, takes over. The security company will have an armed officer on the property every evening from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.

5th Meridian Group CEO Michael Allen said they won’t be patrolling during the day because Legends management believes “the majority of problems happen at night”. A DATE statement from Cape PD Sgt. Joey Hann says the Jan. 18 incident happened around 2 p.m.

To deter crime during the day, Legends management said they plan to have staff on site, including their new general manager, Gary Conner, who was hired on January 25. Conner currently lives on Legends’ property and plans to stay on the property. Conner said the old Legends management was still with the company, but in “lesser roles”.

Regarding the Cape PD, Couch has said in the past that he “dealed with a different property manager about every six months” at Legends, which may have damaged communication between police and management. . Now Couch believes the property has strong management taking action.

A Legends resident on the forum, who wished to remain anonymous, said he thought hiring a security guard was a great idea, but it wasn’t enough.

“[I’m concerned] that there are no cameras except in the main areas and around the main building,” the resident said.

At the forum, several residents asked about security cameras and frequently broken front doors. Conner said the doors were breaking from cars hitting them, but management has extra belts in stock to fix the doors.

As for the cameras, Conner said he has a bank of cameras, but there aren’t cameras everywhere and they don’t “cover every square inch.” Conner said he thought the cameras and portals created a “false sense of security.”

“Which makes [a complex] really safe is having a good community of people talking to each other and telling each other what’s going on,” Conner said.

Evictions and screenings

Conner said those involved in the recent incidents had been evicted and their belongings were not in the apartments. Management said about 10 people were evicted.

Although evictions are generally a 30-day process, Conner said there are protocols for emergency evictions. Legends management has stated that it has a no-tolerance policy for drugs and weapons, so if tenants are caught with either, they will be evicted.

Couch said Legends management is currently taking on the Cape PD program to become a crime-free, multi-housing unit. In a previous Arrow article, Sgt. Cape PD’s Joey Hann said it would be wise to ask landlords if they are certified members of the program before signing a lease.

During the program, Cape PD offers guidance to managers of multiple housing units on strict crime resistance practices. Couch said tenant screening is one of the biggest talking points and that resorts “can’t screen [tenants] enough.”

Legends management said everyone is screened before they are allowed to live in the complex, but they are not screened all the time because there are 591 residents.

However, if the management is informed of a crime committed after admission to the apartments, then they can take action. No one with a crime is allowed to live in the apartments.

Communication problems

Several residents told the forum that they had contacted management in the past, but did not receive prompt or helpful responses.

“I called several times and never got a call back. [I’ve called] on trivial things and on more serious things,” said one resident.

Legends has an after-hours answering service, but residents said when they called, many were sent to a voicemail.

Management said they paid for the after-hours answering service and were surprised to learn of the difficulties. They stressed that residents should contact management if there is a problem by calling Legends or Conner who provided his cell number.

Couch said that based on calls for service from the Cape PD since the Jan. 18 incident, he believes Legends is “heading in the right direction.”

Couch said the Cape PD will put together a document with websites and contact numbers to help residents know who to call in the event of a situation.

At the end of the meeting, some residents said they didn’t feel like their questions had been answered.

This story was originally published by the southeast arrowwhich is a contributing partner of KRCU Public Radio.