Making officer attacks hate crimes and other police-related bills filed in Jefferson City

Bills making it a hate crime to attack a law enforcement officer are among police-related proposals filed Thursday in Jefferson City.

Rep. Marsha Haefner, a Republican from south St. Louis County, pre-filed House Bill 57, which would add certain crimes committed against law enforcement officers and other first responders to the state's list of hate crimes — if those offenses were committed "because" the victim works as a police officer, firefighter or EMT, for example.

Haefner's definition of "first responder" includes peace officers, firefighters and medical personnel "who may be deployed to terrorist attacks, catastrophic or natural disasters, and emergencies."

Rep.-elect Nick Schroer, an O'Fallon Republican who filed a similar bill, said he felt a "pressing concern" to protect law enforcement and first responders, even though he doesn't particularly care for hate crime laws.

"The issues that are going on right now with our law enforcement and first responders are just beyond me. We need to do something about it," Schroer said, adding: "We need to keep them free and keep them out of harm's way the best that we can."

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Schroer said he hopes conferring hate crime status on these offenses through his H.B. 86 would create a stigma and deter future attacks.

Under current Missouri law, attacks motivated by race, color, creed, country of origin, sex, sexual orientation or disability — but not employment — are considered hate crimes.

And, less than two weeks after Gov.-elect Eric Greitens called for a Blue Alert system to support Missouri's law enforcement officers, Rep. Galen Higdon filed H.B. 39, which would expand the state's Amber Alerts. Similar to Amber Alerts, Blue Alerts are intended to notify the public quickly and electronically by providing suspect information after police officers or deputies are shot.

Greitens, who is currently at a seminar for governors that includes crisis-response training, previously said he'd pursue a legislative solution after two Missouri police officers were shot in one day, and a spokesman confirmed that these efforts were continuing.

"We're working closely with the legislature to make sure our law enforcement officers and first responders have the resources and protections necessary to keep Missourians safe," said Parker Briden, Greitens' press secretary. "Governor-Elect Greitens will always have the backs of those who are always on call for us."

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Data released Thursday by Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization that works to prevent gun violence, indicated that Missouri has the third-most shootings of police officers per capita in the U.S. in 2016, with 10 documented cases through November.

"We have to reduce those risks, and data shows that we can — by making it harder for criminals to get guns," Everytown president John Feinblatt said in a news release. "It’s long past time to close the dangerous loophole in our laws that lets criminals buy guns with no background check and no questions asked."

There also is a proposal to allow law enforcement officers to form clearly identifiable police lines and barricades "when certain emergency situations may cause the congregation of persons in public area," such as a fire, traffic crash or riot. People who cross into or stay within such police zones would be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

This was pre-filed as H.B. 37 by Higdon, a St. Joseph Republican, who was unavailable for comment Thursday.

Another public safety bill would require judges to appoint special prosecutors in cases when charges are filed against law enforcement officers following officer-involved shootings or deaths. This measure was pre-filed as H.B. 41 by Rep. Gail McCann Beatty, a Kansas City Democrat.

A similar proposal was recommended by the Ferguson Commission, which was formed after 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black and unarmed, was shot and killed by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, who is white.

Another bill filed by Higdon would amend the law about parole eligibility for nonviolent offenders and would make mandatory minimum sentences optional. The bill proposes allowing any prisoner (except those convicted of first-degree murder, sex offenses or crimes involving firearms) to be eligible for a parole if the following qualifications are met:

• The crime's motive was not "hateful or shockingly evil."
• The prisoner "has been a model prisoner" and "is capable of rehabilitation."
• The offense "did not involve physical harm or the threat of violence to another person"

Higdon also proposed H.B. 39, which would require additional investigation on every instance of towing a vehicle in which a law enforcement officer is involved.

Other public safety bills included a proposal to increase boat registration and titling fees, with the money going to the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Water Patrol Division. The bill's sponsor, St. Charles Republican Rep. Kathie Conway, says the bill could have prevented deaths such as that of Brandon Ellingson, an Iowa man who drowned in 2014 while in the patrol's custody, as the increased fee revenue would pay for trooper training.

Thursday was the first day lawmakers could pre-file bills ahead of the next legislative session, which starts Jan. 4.