On behalf of the staff, board, and statewide Criminal Justice Coalition convened by Empower Missouri, I am here today to oppose the bills referenced above. I am also a lifelong resident of and long-time homeowner in the City of St. Louis.  First and foremost, there is simply no logical explanation for pursuing this type of...Read More

This session, five bills have been filed pertaining to funding for the Kansas City Police Department.  For those who are not familiar with the issue, here’s a quick primer.  The Situation in KC Kansas City is the only municipality in Missouri that doesn’t currently have control of its own police department.  Under Missouri statute, the...Read More

Today the Missouri House of Representatives gave final passage to five of six bills heard by House committees on August 17. The bills were crafted as a response to Gov. Mike Parson’s call to a Special Session on Violent Crime, but none address the root causes of violence. We believe that the witness of the past...Read More

As social justice advocates, our relationship with “Independence Day” is “complicated” to say the least. Clearly the liberty and justice promised in founding documents of the U.S. have never been realized, and those same documents contain structural inequality. So much has been written about this. This year some of us will be revisiting Langston Hughes’...Read More

In the past few months, we have all watched in shock and disbelief as precious lives have been taken from African Americans as a result of police brutality. We are outraged by these tragic events! The horrific killing of George Floyd, preserved on video, the police shooting of Breonna Taylor and the beating of Marvia...Read More

The St. Louis City Police Department covers one of the largest and most racial diverse jurisdictions in Missouri - roughly half of the city’s population is Black, and the other half is White, according to census data from 2010, the most recent available.Read More

Black Missourians are more likely to be pulled over than their white neighbors. Much more likely. Each year since 2000, the Attorney General of Missouri publishes the Vehicle Stops Report (VSR), which shows data on each time a driver is pulled over by an officer in the state. For the last 19 years, the report...Read More

In March, five listening sessions were conducted with Jefferson City residents regarding interactions between their community and the Jefferson City Police Department. A subsequent survey was taken by the participants. The racial makeup of those surveyed were as follows: 20 African Americans35 European Americans2 individuals who did not disclose their race The genders of those...Read More

The racial disparity between stops of drivers is at its highest level since publication began in 2000.Read More

June 3, 2019   For More Information: Jeanette Mott Oxford Executive Director, Empower Missouri (314) 775-3261   Conner Kerrigan Communications Director, Empower Missouri (815) 263-1261 On May 31st, 2019, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt released the annual Vehicle Stops Report of 2018 (VSR) as mandated by Missouri statutes. As an organization that advocates for the...Read More