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Read. Follow. Verify.Missouri bill requires body cameras, duty to intervene, and license revocation for excessive force
Last action · May 15, 2026: Referred: Emerging Issues(H)Sponsor: LaKeySha Bosley
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What This Bill Would Do
House Bill 1953 requires all on-duty Missouri peace officers to wear body-worn cameras, mandates that officers intervene and report when colleagues use excessive force, and requires the immediate dismissal and license revocation of officers who use unauthorized choke-holds or are convicted of unlawful force.
Law enforcement agencies must update operating policies by January 1, 2027, preserve video recordings for at least sixty days, and upload footage to a statewide database within fourteen days of an incident, altering daily police operations and public record access across the state.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Peace Officers
Officers are required to wear body cameras, must intervene against excessive force under threat of criminal charges and license revocation, and face mandatory license revocation if convicted or civilly liable for unlawful force.
Law Enforcement Agencies
Agencies must develop policies by January 1, 2027, preserve video recordings for at least sixty days, upload footage to a statewide database within fourteen days, and discipline officers who fail to intervene.
Prosecuting Attorneys
Prosecutors must review internal investigation findings on failure to intervene and must publicly disclose a written explanation if they charge one officer with excessive force but decline to charge other officers present at the scene.
Key Facts
- Law enforcement officers are prohibited from using a respiratory choke-hold outside of authorized exceptions, with violation resulting in immediate dismissal and license revocation.
- A peace officer must intervene to prevent or stop another officer from using unauthorized physical force, regardless of chain of command.
- Officers who intervene must submit a written report to their immediate supervisor within ten days of the incident.
- Law enforcement agencies are prohibited from disciplining or retaliating against any officer who intervenes, reports unconstitutional conduct, or refuses an unconstitutional directive.
Show all 12 facts
- If an internal investigation finds an officer failed to intervene in an incident resulting in serious injury or death, the employer must discipline the officer up to termination and the director must revoke their license.
- Prosecutors must prepare and publicly disclose a written explanation if they charge an officer for excessive force but choose not to charge other officers present at the scene.
- Failing to intervene to prevent unlawful force is classified as an act of complicity carrying a penalty equal to that of the primary offender.
- All peace officers must wear a video camera with audio and video recording capabilities while on duty.
- Law enforcement agencies must preserve video recordings for at least sixty days and make them publicly available through a statewide database within fourteen days of an incident.
- Undercover detectives and officers in situations where cameras would endanger officer or public safety are exempt from the body camera requirement.
- Law enforcement agencies must develop necessary implementation policies and procedures prior to January 1, 2027.
- The director of the department of public safety must revoke a peace officer's license if the officer is convicted of, pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, or is found civilly liable for a crime involving the unlawful use of physical force.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are all police officers required to wear body cameras under this bill?
What happens if an officer fails to stop a colleague from using excessive force?
When must law enforcement agencies make body camera footage available to the public?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
4 actions- May 15, 2026HouseCommitteeReferred: Emerging Issues(H)
- Jan 8, 2026HouseFloorRead Second Time (H)
- Jan 7, 2026HouseIntroducedRead First Time (H)
- Dec 1, 2025HouseIntroducedPrefiled (H)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Mandatory Statewide Video Retention and Public Access
The bill transitions law enforcement record retention from agency discretion to a mandatory statewide database standard requiring footage release within fourteen days.
Connected Entities
Sources
house.mo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy75Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment15Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz65Current news / social attention level
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