Cape Girardeau PD, SEMO Dept. of Public Safety changes following arrest of former DPS officer

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - Big changes are coming regarding the relationship between the Cape Girardeau Police Department and the Southeast Missouri State University Department of Public Safety.

The changes come three weeks after the arrest of former DPS officer John Reyna on child molestation charges.

The 37 year old made a brief court appearance on Monday, February 7 and will be back in front of a judge for his preliminary hearing March 10.

Under a long-standing city ordinance, all Southeast officers also serve as sworn deputies in Cape Girardeau.

However, as we continue our investigation into Reyna’s time at the University, we learned questions about his background sparked a major overhaul to that policy.

“I’m not only charged with protecting the citizens of this community. I’m also charged with protecting our city from liability from, for police officers as well.”

And that’s why Cape Girardeau Police Chief Wes Blair is changing the policy that commissions officers from Southeast Missouri State as deputies with his department.

Knowing John Reyna became a commissioned Cape Girardeau deputy when he started at Southeast in 2017, we recently requested documents from the city.

Here’s what we found.

On February 1, Chief Blair sent a letter to DPS Director Beth Glaus, informing her that following Reyna’s arrest he will now personally review the background of each DPS officer before allowing them to be sworn deputies in his city.

“When we learned of this officer’s previous issues in Jackson, it caused us quite a bit of concern that he was hired on at another police agency,” Blair said. “And then, through trust, our city manager signed off on him as a deputy police officer.”

We also learned Blair moved quickly to recommend the city revoke Reyna’s commission, sending an email to City Manager Kenneth Haskin the day of Reyna’s arrest. In it, Blair noted Reyna resigned from the Jackson Police Department during an internal investigation for on-duty sexual misconduct.

“It was very concerning that someone with some sexual allegations on duty would become a police officer somewhere else,” Chief Blair said. “So, we felt like it was necessary to put this extra step into place.”

When asked if, given what he knows, would John Reyna have passed a background check at the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Chief Blair said absolutely not.

“There’s no way we would have hired somebody with that background,” he continued.

When the University hired John Reyna in September 2017, a spokesman said they conducted a background check on him and no one was aware his peace officer’s license was under investigation.

However, Jackson Police Chief James Humphreys said no one from on campus reached out to his department and asked about Reyna’s work history. Plus, Humphreys noted that an internal investigation into allegations of on-duty sexual misconduct led to a one-year suspension of John Reyna’s peace officer’s license. During that time, the University chose to move him off DPS to a non-commissioned position still on campus. When that suspension was over, they put him back in as a DPS officer.

Chief Blair said he hopes both departments can learn from the situation.

“It’s important for us to have a partnership,” he said. “At the end of the day, the officers on the street, whether they be a Cape Girardeau police officer or a SEMO DPS officer, need to have a collaborative relationship. They need to be able to trust each other and to work together. That’s how we keep our community safe. That’s how we help keep the campus safe.”

A Southeast spokesman said the University has enjoyed a long and positive relationship with the City of Cape Girardeau, and is supportive of the new police department policy, saying it will only strengthen that existing relationship.

He also suggested “some of the assumptions being made, and information provided, are not accurate” in reference to Reyna’s employment.

He said Reyna’s background investigation “included, but was not limited to, reference contacts, some of which were employees of the Jackson Police Department” and “a background check request to the Missouri Highway Patrol and the FBI.”

Reyna remains behind bars in Perry County on a $250,000 cash-only bond.

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