Rep. Steven Roberts of St. Louis previously
worked for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in Compton,
California, as a certified law clerk.
In this role, Rep. Steven Roberts was
primarily responsible for conducting preliminary hearings in felony narcotics
cases, analysing jailhouse recordings, crime scene videos, police interviews,
and medical examiner reports for trial preparation and exhibits in homicide and
gang related cases.
Rep. Steven Roberts Jr. of St. Louis is the State Representative for Missouri’s 77th
District. In the most recent legislative session, he introduced House Bill
1996, legislation that would require a racial and gender bias training
component of peace officer basic training to include specific instruction
on racial or identity profiling, as defined in the bill.
Additionally,
the bill specifies that training curriculum examine evidence-based patterns,
practices, and protocols that make up racial or identity profiling, including
implicit bias. The training would prescribe evidence-based patterns, practices,
and protocols that prevent racial or identity profiling.
In
developing the training, the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST)
commission would consult with the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board
-established by this bill - whose purpose would be to eliminate racial
and identity profiling and improve diversity and racial sensitivity in law
enforcement.
"Missouri
is a state that continues to struggle with race and discrimination,” states Rep.
Steven Roberts Jr. “Racial bias training in the Missouri Legislature will
provide an example of what needs to be implemented throughout our state and all
institutions. Law enforcement needs racial bias training in order to
respectfully protect and serve the districts they patrol."
The joint committee would be responsible
for studying issues relating to the investigation and prosecution of unsolved
civil rights crimes and cold cases from the civil rights era. In addition, the
committee would make recommendations concerning the desirability of a statutory
commission or other appropriate means to conduct investigations and
prosecutions of civil rights crimes.
Racially
motivated violence continues to divide communities and intimidate minorities,
and these violent and discriminatory crimes tear at the fabric of our
democratic society. Countless African-Americans and civil rights workers
involved in the struggle for equality were murdered in deliberate acts of racial
intimidation.
The murder of Emmett Till remains one of the most infamous acts
of racial violence in American history, yet his killers were never brought to
justice. The US Department of Justice recently reopened the Till case.
"The
killers in most of the cases have not been prosecuted or convicted, and today,
there are many cases that still cry out for justice,” said State Rep. Steven Roberts of St. Louis, agreeing with a statement from the Southern Poverty Law
Center.
Missouri State Rep. Steven Roberts Jr., who represents the 77th District in
St. Louis, wants to make sure more gun owners in Missouri receive proper
firearms safety training. This year, he sponsored legislation that he believes
would help reduce gun-related accidents by making safety training more
affordable.
House Bill
1326 promotes safety courses that teach the proper and safe handling of
firearms. After successfully completing up to eight hours of a gun safety
training course, participants would be eligible for a deduction of up to $150
for course costs.
"Gun
safety is a public-health issue that we need to address in Missouri and our
nation. The trend in Missouri has been to allow more and more access to
firearms, but we have not seen corresponding increased emphasis on ensuring gun
owners are taught how to handle these deadly weapons properly," said Roberts Jr.
He continued by emphasizing, "I am not anti-gun. I ampro-gun safety."
Rep.Roberts
sponsored the only firearm legislation in the House of Representatives that
made it out of both the Committee on General Laws and Rules Committee with
unanimous support from both Democratic and Republican members.
