Missouri Senate Committee Considers Deadly Force Bills to Update Law

A state Senate committee is considering three bills that would update Missouri's deadly force laws.

The News Tribune reports that the three bills presented to the Judiciary and Criminal and Civil Jurisprudence Committee on Tuesday have slightly different approaches to the issue.

Bill supporters say the current state law is outdated.

Missouri law allows police to use deadly force because of "reasonable belief" that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that law officers may not use deadly force to prevent escape without "probable cause."

Republican state Sen. Bob Dixon, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, says the three bills will likely be combined into one before being presented to the full Senate for debate.