Missouri's Legislative Black Caucus Archives

Missouri Senate committee to hear crime legislation on Tuesday (AUDIO)

July 27, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s special legislative session on violent crime is underway at the Statehouse in Jefferson City. The Missouri Senate gaveled-in Monday at noon and listened to about an hour of floor speeches.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on July 27, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, says a Senate committee will hold a hearing on the crime bill Tuesday afternoon at 12:45 in the Senate chamber.

“The Transportation (Infrastructure and) Public Safety Committee will be meeting and hearing the legislation at that time,” Schatz says.

The committee is chaired by State Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff. With the hearing taking place in the Senate chamber, public seating for Tuesday’s hearing will be in the Capitol’s fourth-floor gallery.

Pro Tem Schatz says there’s agreement in the Legislature on the majority of Governor Mike Parson’s special session call on violent crime. Schatz says eliminating the residency requirement for St. Louis Police officers is the most controversial proposal. The Sullivan Republican tells Missourinet it’s still the right thing to do.

“We’re 150-plus law enforcement officers short in the city of St. Louis right now. Residency will help solve some of that problem,” says Schatz.

St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden testified in January that the residency requirement is the greatest challenge that his department has with recruitment and retention.

St. Louis has had at least 143 homicides in 2020. KMOV-TV reports that compares to about 110 at this time last year. Kansas City has now had 110 homicides in 2020, a 35 percent increase from last year.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, and Missouri’s Legislative Black Caucus are calling for legislation to utilize unused funds from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) to support programs for gun violence survivors.

“Missouri has failed our survivors of gun violence by not properly utilizing available VOCA funds,” Leader Quade says, in a statement. “The governor’s special session to address violent crimes is the perfect avenue for us to help these survivors and provide money for efforts that stem gun violence before it starts.”

Quade and House Democrats are calling on Governor Parson to utilize $4 million of Missouri’s average annual VOCA funding, that would provide assistance to eligible community-based gun violence intervention groups. Quade says while the VOCA funds directly assist crime victims, they also work to mitigate violent gun crimes from happening in the future.

Governor Parson (R) told Capitol reporters on Monday that he’s narrowly focused on violent crime and does not intend to expand the special session call. He was not specifically asked about VOCA.

The governor says witness protection and juvenile certification are key parts of the call, along with eliminating the residency requirement for St. Louis Police officers.

Parson also says last week’s roundtable discussions with local leaders and law enforcement officers about violent crime were productive. The governor traveled to St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia. He also went to eastern Missouri’s Hannibal and Cape Girardeau.

“One of the reasons I went to Hannibal, Cape Girardeau is I really wanted to drive the point home that this violent crime is just not a Kansas City, St. Louis issue,” Parson says.

The governor says violent crime impacts all Missourians, adding that Hannibal recently had a homicide.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s two-minute interview with Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, which was recorded on July 27, 2020 at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City:

Missouri’s governor calls special session on violent crime

July 15, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Saying that Missouri has seen rapid increases in crime this year, Governor Mike Parson (R) has called a special session to begin on July 27th in Jefferson City.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson announces he will call a special session on violent crime, as St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden and other law enforcement officers listen (July 15, 2020 photo courtesy of the Governor’s Flickr page)

“As Governor and a former law enforcement officer for more than 22 years, protecting our citizens and upholding the laws of our state are of utmost importance to my administration,” Parson says.

The governor tells Capitol reporters that witness protection will be a key component of the special session call.

“Because one of the things that you have especially in violent crime, especially in some of the areas that we talk about, people don’t want to come forward and testify because they’re scared … they fear for their life,” Parson says.

There have been teen witnesses to St. Louis homicides in recent years who have been killed, before they could testify.

That includes the highly-publicized “St. Louis murder mom” conspiracy case, where a woman was sentenced to 12 years in prison for second degree murder.

A key proposal in the governor’s January State of the State Address was $1 million in funding for witness protection. Despite bipartisan support in both the Missouri Senate and House, the measure did not pass this year.

The governor says violent crime has escalated in recent weeks, specifically in St. Louis and Kansas City.

“Last night, four people were shot and killed in St. Louis, bringing the number of homicides so far this year to 130, compared to 99 at the same time last year,” says Parson.

Across the state in Kansas City, there have been 101 homicides this year. Governor Parson says that’s a 35 percent increase from 2019.

The governor also says aggravated assaults with a firearm are up 19 percent year-to-date in St. Louis County.

The Missouri Legislative Black Caucus chairman issued a statement on Wednesday, after the governor’s press conference. State Rep. Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis, says Governor Parson should call a special session on police reform.

“The communities he openly identified in his call today, namely Kansas City and St. Louis, have spent decades begging for institutional change in law enforcement. In an open letter to the governor last month, the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus requested that Governor Parson create a database to track officers who have been fired for misconduct, ban the training and use of chokeholds and other restraining techniques by police that can cause life-threatening injuries, and establish new guidelines for accountability by police departments when dealing with excessive use of force. It is disappointing that these requests are not being considered for a special session, especially as such requests have garnered state and national attention in an effort to prompt real and positive change,” Roberts says, in a statement.

Governor Parson says his biggest concern is violent crime and homicides.

Law enforcement from around Missouri joined the governor in the Capitol Rotunda for today’s briefing, including state Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Sandy Karsten and Missouri State Highway Patrol Colonel Eric Olson.

St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden, Kansas City Police Chief Richard Smith, Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams, Arnold Police Chief Robert “Bob” Shockey, Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler and Callaway County Sheriff Clay Chism also attended.

While witness protection will be a key part of the special session call, so will eliminating the residency requirement for St. Louis police officers. Chief Hayden traveled to Jefferson City in January to testify for that provision, saying the residency requirement is the greatest challenge the department has with recruitment and retention.

“We have the greatest need for officers and the most demanding criminal environment in the state of Missouri, yet we have the greatest barrier to becoming an officer by discouraging applicants with the residency requirement,” Chief Hayden testified in January.

He noted that there were 194 murders, 2,600 shootings and 349 carjackings in St. Louis in 2019.

Another component of the special session call involves endangering the welfare of a child. The governor’s proposal modifies the offense of endangering the welfare of a child, for a person who encourages a child to engage in a weapons offense.