Missouri split on longer terms in attacks on police

FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2017, file photo, Missouri Gov.-elect Eric Greitens speaks in Jefferson City, Mo.
FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2017, file photo, Missouri Gov.-elect Eric Greitens speaks in Jefferson City, Mo.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Eric Greitens is pushing to toughen Missouri's already stiff penalties for attacking a police officer, pleasing many in Missouri's law enforcement community, which has been on the defensive since a white police officer killed an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson more than two years ago.

But others think changes aren't needed, including a fellow Republican lawmaker and legal expert who helped craft revisions to the state's criminal code that just took effect.

"We can feel like we're doing a great thing and we're really solving the problem," said state Sen. Bob Dixon, chairman of the chamber's committee on criminal laws. "This does not solve that problem."

Greitens, a Rhodes Scholar and Navy SEAL officer who ran multiple campaign ads featuring him firing machine guns, pledged during his first major policy speech to help pass "the toughest laws in the country for anyone who assaults a peace officer."

He also spoke about a "Ferguson effect" that he said has made officers more hesitant about performing their duties since the 2014 killing of Michael Brown, due to a fear of being questioned. Brown's killing by a white Ferguson officer sparked months of protests and led to a U.S. Department of Justice investigation. The officer wasn't charged.

Lawmakers in more than a dozen other states and in Congress have proposed making it a hate crime to assault an officer. Louisiana became the first state to enact such legislation in May, allowing prosecutors to seek stronger penalties when police, firefighters and emergency medical crews are intentionally targeted because of their professions.

Almost every state, including Missouri, already has tougher penalties for assaults or other offenses against police, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

A Missouri conviction for second-degree assault, in which someone is seriously injured or a lethal weapon is used, currently carries a sentence of one day to seven years in prison or a fine. When the victim is a police officer, the penalty is five to 15 years. Legislation proposed by GOP state Sen. Doug Libla would double it to 10 to 30 years or life behind bars.

Police deaths on the job have generally declined over the past four decades, from a recent high of 280 in 1974 to a low of 109 in 2013, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, which tracks officer deaths dating to the 18th century. But officer deaths have steadily risen since then, up to 136 in 2016. Those figures include attacks on police as well as accidental deaths such as car crashes.

Those pushing for stiffer penalties say they could serve as a deterrent. They point to an attack in Dallas last July in which a veteran killed five officers at a protest in what was the deadliest day for American law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001. Ten days later, a former Marine killed three Baton Rouge police officers.

But while criminals who repeatedly break the law might take note of stricter punishments for various crimes and be deterred by them, Dixon said he doesn't think that reasoning would apply to cases of shootings of police.

"The person who shoots a cop probably didn't look up the statutes to see what the penalty was," Dixon said. "It's a one-time deal."

Thomas Harvey, co-founder and executive director of the St. Louis civil-rights law firm ArchCity Defenders, said people who attack police already face tough prosecution and punishment in Missouri. He said the push by some politicians for even stiffer punishments amounts to "pandering to police officers and to a certain constituency," and that it's politically difficult to oppose such positions.

"Those folks run huge risk of being characterized as anti-police and having anti-police bias," Harvey said. "It's a no-risk, high-reward type of legislation for people. ... I don't think it meaningfully increases protections for police officers, either."

Dan Isom, a former St. Louis police chief and professor of policing and community at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said such policies are about more than deterrence.

"It's important for the morale of police officers, too, for the public to say 'we value what you do, we are supportive of what you do, we place value on protecting you and doing what we can from a policy standpoint to make sure that you are protected in the work that you do,'" Isom said. He later added: "Just because some people violate it doesn't mean we shouldn't make it stringent, make it a priority and hold people accountable for what they do."

A Section on 01/23/2017

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