Ozarks leaders call for tough penalties for violence against officers

The Greene County Sheriff called a news conference in Springfield Thursday to talk about challenges law enforcement face in today's national climate. Nearly a dozen officers across the country have been gunned down in the past two weeks.

Local leaders proposed an idea Thursday to help to stop the violence.

Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott and Senator Mike Parson, a former Missouri sheriff, spoke about the targeting of officers. Surrounded by several local leaders, they proposed adding law enforcement officers to the hate crime category in Missouri, because they're now seeing officers shot simply because they're wearing a uniform.

"Simply if you're going to target somebody simply because they wear a uniform, there is no other reason but you hate that person, and that needs to be part of the hate crimes in the state of MO," says Senator Mike Parson.

Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott says, "We have to watch each others backs, we have to proceed to calls with a little bit more caution, but not necessarily calls, we have to proceed to where we eat our lunch, where officers sit in restaurants, when they go to the restroom in uniform; those are the things that normal people don't have to think about."

They say committing violence in the name of an activist movement, in a way, started in Ferguson, Missouri. And they want Missouri to be a leader in ending the violence.

Arnott says, "What we need to do is send a message from the state of Missouri, from Jefferson City, that says it's not going to happen in this state ever again. And that's why those laws need to be on the book and that's why it's important that this gets passed."

"For us not to stand up behind our law enforcement in this state and let people commit criminal acts, whether it's burning buildings, whether it's assaults, simply under the name of protests, is wrong. Because the one thing I do know, from experience, all lives matter. No matter who you are, no matter what race you are, every life matters," says Parson.

Senator Parson says he will introduce legislation to add law enforcement officers to the hate crime category, likely in December.