Some question tougher penalties for attacking cops
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Gov. Eric Greitens is pushing to toughen Missouri’s already stiff penalties for attacking a police officer, reflecting similar efforts underway in other states and pleasing many in Missouri’s law enforcement community, which has been on the defensive since the police killing of an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson more than two years ago.
Whether such changes are needed is debatable — among those who think they aren’t is a fellow Republican lawmaker and legal expert who helped craft revisions of 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, a leader on criminal law and chair of the chamber’s committee on criminal laws. “This does not solve that problem.”
Greitens, a former Rhodes Scholar and Navy SEAL officer who ran multiple campaign ads featuring him firing large guns, pledged during his first major policy speech to help pass “the toughest laws in the country for anyone who assaults a peace officer,” even though Missouri already has harsher penalties for people who hurt cops or first responders.
He also spoke about a “Ferguson effect,” which allegedly has made officers more hesitant about performing their duties since the 2014 killing of Michael Brown due to a fear of being questioned later on. Brown’s killing by a white Ferguson officer sparked months of protests and led to a Department of Justice investigation of the department. The officer wasn’t charged.
Lawmakers in more than a dozen other states and 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.
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has made repeated efforts to reinstate the death penalty for those convicted of killing a police officer, but she faces resistance from Democrats, who have control of the state Legislature.
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.