Violent crime is likely to be discussed in any special session, with city leaders urging legislators and the governor to introduce measures as a priority.
Governor Mike Parson last week signed SB 600, which he described as a way of tackling violent crime, including introducing the offense of conspiracy and more mandatory sentences.
But in a letter to the governor, Kansas City Mayor Quintin Lucas called for violent crime to be addressed during any special session. Parson said a special session has been discussed since the original legislative session and “crime would be part" of any reconvening of legislators.
Mayor Lucas wants to “enhance witness protection funding in Missouri” as many individuals are afraid to come forward to give evidence against violent criminals.
“Kansas City is too fine a city and Missouri too fine a state to allow violent criminality to define our way of life,” Lucas wrote. “We will persevere through these challenges, but our children, our law enforcement community, and all Kansas Citians need change quickly.”
St. Louis' most senior safety official was also speaking this week about increased violence after a night that left three dead and seven wounded.
"Violence is occurring in every portion and sector of our city," public safety director Jimmie Edwards said during a Facebook Live briefing Thursday.
He added that personal disputes, domestic quarrels and illicit drugs are the key reasons for the level of violence, with 32 homicides last month.
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, in an earlier Facebook Live briefing, said, "The prevalence of gun violence in our city and in our region ... it's just devastating our communities and our families.
"It's not just happening in St. Louis. It's happening across the country, in big cities across the country. We know that in Missouri, we have very lax, lenient gun laws and we know way too many differences are settled with gunfire rather than with words."
Parson said enactment of SB 600 is an important step toward protecting Missourians.
“As Governor and a former law enforcement officer for 22 years, protecting the citizens of our state is of utmost importance to my administration. We all want our communities to be safe, and we worry when we see violent criminals threaten our neighborhoods,” Parson said when signing the bill.
“SB 600 holds violent offenders accountable for their actions and is a major step towards safety and justice for our communities. We must continue working together to identify solutions, address crime, and keep Missourians safe.”
Under current law, a person cannot be convicted of conspiracy if the act is not overt.
SB 600 also adds several other provision to the criminal code relating to unlawful possession of firearms, criminal street gangs, and vehicle hijacking, and it creates more mandatory sentences.
The law will cost taxpayers $16 million per year and is estimated to increase Missouri’s prison population by 2,500, resulting in the necessity to spend $500 million on the construction of two new prisons, according to Americans for Prosperity, a conservative activist group.
AFP-MO state director Jeremy Cady said," It’s sad Missouri is repeating decades of past mistakes by embracing discredited tough on crime policies that fail to make our communities safer.
"Locking up more people does not result in safer neighborhoods, but rather harms taxpayers and needlessly rips families and communities apart. Even though our neighboring states in Kansas and Illinois have a lower incarceration rate than Missouri, their violent crime rates are substantially lower than ours.
"We urge Governor Parson to embrace smart-on-crime policies that increase justice and compassion in our criminal justice system and are proven to reduce crime.”