Senators weigh changes to deadly force law

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri senators debated but did not advance a bill that would change Missouri’s own deadly force laws to mirror those that exist on the federal level.

Under current law, a Missouri police officer can use deadly force to stop a fleeing felon under any circumstances, a legal standard that directly conflicts with a 1985 U.S. Supreme Court decision. Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, sponsored SB199 in an effort to bring Missouri into line with the case, Tennessee v. Garner.

Missouri’s own low standard for the use of force has taken on new political weight in the wake of the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson last year, which in part has ignited a national debate about the use of lethal force by police.

Dixon’s changes would first require officers in Missouri to have probable cause that a felony was committed and would prohibit the use of deadly force unless a fleeing suspect uses a deadly weapon. From the bill summary:

This act allows a law enforcement officer to use deadly force when necessary to effect the arrest or prevent the escape of a person when the officer reasonably believes the person has committed or attempted to commit a felony involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical injury, is attempting to escape by use of a deadly weapon, or may otherwise pose a threat of serious physical injury to the officer or another person unless arrested without delay.

Dixon and his supporters pointed to the Garner case, which has not been seriously challenged in its 30 years, as an indication that the new standard represented an acceptable modification of Missouri’s current laws. But some senators, like Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, took issue.

Schaaf said on the floor he didn’t feel it appropriate to limit a police officer’s ability to stop a serious crime.

“If it’s my life savings, shoot him,” Schaaf said.

Dixon told his colleagues that such shootings didn’t need to take place, and that fleeing criminals who pose no immediate threat deserved their day in court like any other suspect.

The Senate debated the measure in the evening for a little more than an hour before the legislation was laid over and they adjourned. No vote was taken.