JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Senate gave initial approval on Tuesday to legislation that would change the state’s law governing how police officers can use deadly force, a measure that is seen as part of Missouri’s response to a fatal shooting last August in Ferguson that sparked unrest here and across the country.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, would put Missouri’s law in line with the United States Supreme Court’s 1985 decision in Tennessee v. Garner, which says that police officers pursuing unarmed suspects could use deadly force if the officer reasonably believes that the suspect poses a deadly or serious threat.
“What I want to make sure is that law enforcement have is clarity in the law,” Dixon said. “What we had in our current statutes is some confusion. It looked like they could use deadly force for something like a bad check.”
With the “reasonable belief” standard regarding a suspect’s ability to cause bodily harm, Dixon said, it removes such a possibility.
Dixon said the “driving force” behind his legislation was the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer last year.
Dixon did not say whether he believed the Brown incident would have been different if the law had been on the books. But, the apparent discrepancy in state law and federal case-law did come up after a grand jury report was released that showed jurors had seen Missouri’s outdated law.
Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, told skeptical colleagues that changes to the state’s deadly force law should not be seen as an attack law enforcement.
“I’m not attacking law enforcement. I want them to be able to go back home at night. This isn’t about tying the hands of law enforcement,” she said.
Nasheed unsuccessfully tried to change Dixon’s bill to make it where an officer would need to have “probable cause,” rather than to “reasonably believe” he could cause harm, to use deadly force on a suspect.
That change, she said, would go far to address the “serious problem” that exists between law enforcement and African Americans. Dixon said others in the legislature opposed the change, but that his bill was, nonetheless, a “work in progress.”
The bill needs another vote to advance to the House, as the legislature faces a May 15 deadline before session ends.