To: The Missouri State House, The Missouri State Senate, and Governor Mike Parson
Require a Special Prosecutor to Investigate Incidents of Fatal Police Misconduct
Local police and prosecutors work hand-in-hand to keep our communities safe.
But that close relationship creates a natural conflict of interest when those same prosecutors are tasked with overseeing investigations of police misconduct and abuse.
To preserve justice and the impartiality of our legal system, we must require the appointment of independent prosecutors to oversee all investigations into police misconduct that involve loss of life.
Why is this important?
After the death of Michael Brown at the hands of a police officer in Ferguson, MO earlier this year, over 116,000 people joined the call for the appointment of an independent prosecutor to examine the event.
Petition signers believed that St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch's record made his office particularly unfit to investigate this crime.
However, similar conflicts of interest are all too common when local prosecutors investigate local police.
To combat this problem and ensure justice for the victims of police violence, I will be introducing legislation to require the appointment of an independent prosecutor to oversee every investigation into any allegation of police misconduct that caused a loss of life.
Will you join me by signing this petition and calling on my fellow elected officials to support our bill?