JEFFERSON CITY — Public safety provisions sponsored by State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, R-Parkville, have now become state law. Senate Bill 53, which took effect Aug. 28., encourages recruitment of Kansas City police officers by relaxing residency requirements, increases penalties for internet harassment of police officers and confiscates prisoner COVID-19 stimulus checks to pay victims. “With the enactment of Senate Bill 53, police officers in Kansas City won’t have to choose between their career and their family’s happiness and security,” Sen. Luetkemeyer said. “The archaic requirement that police officers live inside the city is one of the primary reasons that well-qualified police officers choose not to apply for jobs with the Kansas City Police Department.” In addition to eliminating an impediment to officer recruitment and retention by allowing KCPD officers to live up to 30 miles from the city limits, Sen. Luetkemeyer’s legislation also makes it a felony to publicly expose private information about a law enforcement officer in an effort to intimidate or harass the officer or their family. The anti-doxing provision was inspired by an incident outside a Kansas City police station, when a protestor threatened to reveal where children of police officers attend school. Another provision of SB53 requires offenders in Missouri’s prisons to make restitution to their victims before receiving money from federal COVID-19 stimulus payments. The bill also increase support for Missouri sheriffs. |
For more information about Sen. Luetkemeyer, visit www.senate.mo.gov/mem34.