Every day, men and women across Missouri tell their families goodbye and head off to a job where they have sworn to put themselves in danger to keep our neighborhoods, schools, and communities safe. We ask a lot of our police officers, sheriffs, and state troopers, and their work often brings these public servants into dangerous situations.
Sadly, too many times in the course of protecting us, these public servants are violently attacked or even killed. Additionally, we have seen a rise in incidents of police officers being targeted simply for being a police officer. This is unacceptable, and we in the Legislature have a duty to provide every resource available to search for and capture those who commit these terrible violent acts against law enforcement officers.
That is why this past legislative session, I supported legislation, sponsored by my own State Representative, Justin Hill, himself a former police officer to establish the Blue Alert system. Signed into law by the Governor on July 6th, Blue Alert is modeled after the Amber Alert System which notifies the public when a child is abducted. Similarly, the Blue Alert System will enable mass notification to the general public in instances where law enforcement officers are killed or injured.
Blue Alerts will be broadcast on the radio, cell phones, and other wireless devices. Like Amber Alerts, they provide physical descriptions, vehicle information, and other identifying characteristics, information law enforcement uses to keep the public safe by apprehending the perpetrators as quickly as possible.
Feeling secure in our communities is a mark of a free society, and our police officers are working harder than ever to provide the safety the public needs. I am proud of the action taken by the General Assembly to establish the Blue Alert System, and will support future legislation that provides the tools needed to keep our officers safe as they protect us.
Very Sincerely,
Robert F. (Bob) Onder, Jr.
Contacting Sen. Onder
Throughout this session, I will do my best to keep you informed of our work here in the Capitol. I encourage you to contact my office if you have comments, questions or concerns.
For constituent questions, scheduling and general questions or to sign up for my weekly capitol reports, please contact my Scheduler and Director of Constituent Services Theckla Spainhower at Theckla.Spainhower@senate.mo.gov.
For questions pertaining to legislation, please contact my Chief of Staff and Legislative Director Ryan Nonnemaker at Ryan.Nonnemaker@senate.mo.gov.
You can reach my Capitol office at (573) 751-1282. You can also e-mail me personally at Bob.Onder@senate.mo.gov.