TheChat: Missouri law enforcement looking to alter its training standards in the wake of Ferguson
Good morning.
▪ “We’ve gone through a number of evolutions. Every police chief knows that you have to revisit the things we’re doing to make sure they remain contemporary, and they’re addressing problems of the moment. The challenges that face us as a profession and nation change from one time to another.” — Lane Roberts, Missouri’s director of the Department of Public Safety, on the need for new training for police officers to deal with a changing world.
Gov. Jay Nixon has called for changes to law enforcement training standards in the state. What happened in Ferguson is triggering the move. Nixon wants to see new rules by early December.
▪ “$562,500.00” — the amount former House Speaker-turned-lobbyist Steve Tilley donated this week to the Missouri Majority PAC.
Tilley had been sitting on a huge stockpile of cash accumulated during his days as speaker, a position he resigned in 2012. On Monday, he gave most of it to the Majority PAC, a GOP political action committee. Tilley and his dough have been the subject of numerous articles, many of which questioned his use of the money over the years. (link courtesy of johncombest.com).
▪ “Everything within my power as a legislator.” — Missouri Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick, a Shell Knob Republican, vowing to do all he can to block funds for a new NFL stadium in St. Louis.
Fitzpatrick is the second-highest ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee. More importantly, he joins a growing group of lawmakers opposing the extension of bonds for the project.
▪ “I don’t find anything tough about Donald Trump at all.” — Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley on the GOP frontrunner and his position on immigration.
O’Malley added that more public officials need to push back against Trump and his rhetoric. “It’s not funny, it’s not entertaining, and it is unbecoming of the United States of America and the office of president — of the president.” O’Malley’s comments come just days after Trump referred to him as a “disgusting, little, weak, pathetic baby.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2015 at 12:30 AM.