1. The provisions of this section shall be known and may be cited as the “Police Use of Force Transparency Act of 2021”.

2. For purposes of this section, the following terms mean:

Terms Used In Missouri Laws 590.1265 v2

  • following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
  • Peace officer: a law enforcement officer of the state or any political subdivision of the state with the power of arrest for a violation of the criminal code or declared or deemed to be a peace officer by state statute. See Missouri Laws 590.010
  • person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020

(1) “Law enforcement agency”, the same meaning as defined in section 590.1040;

(2) “Peace officer”, the same meaning as defined in section 590.010;

(3) “Serious physical injury”, the same meaning as defined in section 556.061;

(4) “Use-of-force incident”, an incident in which:

(a) A fatality occurs that is connected to a use of force by a peace officer;

(b) Serious bodily injury occurs that is connected to a use of force by a peace officer; or

(c) In the absence of death or serious physical injury, a peace officer discharges a firearm at, or in the direction of, a person.

3. Starting on March 1, 2022, and at least annually thereafter, each law enforcement agency shall collect and report local data on use-of-force incidents involving peace officers to the National Use of Force Data Collection through the Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Law enforcement agencies shall not include personally identifying information of individual peace officers in their reports.

4. Each law enforcement agency shall additionally report the data submitted under subsection 3 of this section to the department of public safety. Law enforcement agencies shall not include personally identifying information of individual peace officers in their reports.

5. The department of public safety shall, no later than October 31, 2021, develop standards and procedures governing the collection and reporting of use-of-force data under this section. The standards and procedures shall be consistent with the requirements, definitions, and methods of the National Use of Force Data Collection administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

6. By March 1, 2023, and at least annually thereafter, the department of public safety shall publish the data reported by law enforcement agencies under subsection 4 of this section, including statewide aggregate data and agency-specific data, in a publicly available report on the department of public safety’s website. Such data shall be deemed a public record consistent with the provisions and exemptions contained in chapter 610.

7. The department of public safety shall undertake an analysis of any trends and disparities in rates of use of force by all law enforcement agencies, with a report to be released to the public no later than June 30, 2025. The report shall be updated periodically thereafter, but not less than once every five years.

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