As his first official act as governor, Mike Kehoe has signed six executive orders that are designed to reduce crime.
The “Safer Missouri Initiative” is part of the Republican’s campaign promise to roll out a crimefighting plan on his first day as governor.
One order will designate the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to allow state and local law enforcement to help with enforcing immigration laws.
“We’ll be designating specific officers to undergo training in federal immigration enforcement in order to assist federal law enforcement with immigration enforcement and further secure Missouri,” said Kehoe.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol and Department of Public Safety will also be responsible for collecting the immigration status of people charged with crimes and putting that information into a statewide crime data system.
Citing more than 17,600 active felony arrest warrants across Missouri, another order emphasizes sharing intelligence between the state and the U.S. Marshals Service on the whereabouts of wanted fugitives.
“It’s a regional anti-crime effort that utilizes the existing resources of all law enforcement agencies to collectively pursue and apprehend dangerous fugitives,” said Kehoe.
The order also designates full-time Highway Patrol investigators within each troop region to serve as liaisons and funding to support one new deputy sheriff within each troop for crime prevention task force operations.
Another order will reduce the time it takes for the state patrol to reach the top salary tier from 15 years of service to 12 years of service.
By way of executive order, Kehoe has created a “Blue Shield” community recognition program for cities and counties who take a variety of measures to make law enforcement effective and protect the public.
A fourth executive order directs the Missouri Department of Corrections and Parole to put together a working group with stakeholders to assess the existing rules on the eligibility of offenders for parole, conduct of parole hearings, and the conditions to imposed on paroled offenders. Kehoe’s office says the current rules have not been changed since 2017.
Additionally, the governor has designated someone in his office as the contact for law enforcement agencies and issues. The liaison will serve as the intermediary between field operations and state resources available to assist in law enforcement efforts.
A news release from Kehoe’s office says further steps requiring legislative action are teed up for implementation in the coming weeks, with additional details to be unveiled during his State of the State address on Jan. 28.
To view the executive orders, click here.
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