Law Enforcement

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Several news laws took effect in Missouri on Tuesday.  The following explanations are provided by the Missouri State Highway Patrol: On August 28, 2012, many new state laws and changes to existing laws become effective in Missouri. To increase public awareness, Colonel Ronald K. Replogle, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, informs the public of the new laws and changes dealing with the Patrol, criminal law, motor vehicle and boat operations, licensing and public safety.  What follows below are highlights of new laws and changes to existing law based upon the Missouri General Assembly's bill summaries.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Crime Stoppers is asking for help locating Stephen Agee.  Agee is wanted in Newton County on a charge of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, in Jasper County on charges of  robbery and armed criminal action, and is suspected of violating his parole for convictions for second-degree burglary and possession of a controlled substance. Agee, 49, is white, 5 feet 9, and 195 pounds with brown, balding hair and hazel eyes. He has tattoos on his right arm and right shoulder.

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. -- A sheriff in the Ozarks announced he won't seek re-election in 2012.  Pulaski County's J.B. King said, after 43 years in law enforcement, it's time to call it quits. King took office in 2004 after a brief retirement from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, then won his re-election in 2008 by 37 votes. 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Springfield Public Schools leaders say they are taking extra precautions to protect students at Kickapoo High School following a bomb threat on Thursday. The district is working with law enforcement to determine whether the threat discovered at the school is not a hoax.  The following is a phone message that was sent to Kickapoo High School parents Thursday. Today a message was found in a restroom at Kickapoo High School threatening to blow up the building on Feb. 8. School staff and district administrators are taking every reasonable measure to determine whether this threat may be a hoax and that all appropriate local authorities have been notified.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Unmanned aircraft have been helping fight wars for years, and now the technology is being used in the civilian world. Jake Wynant may have been controlling his plane on Friday,  but he stayed on the ground as his aircraft headed for the sky.  Wynant owns Wingnut Aerial Video Systems .  His company uses a remote-controlled helicopter in movies and commercial production. "It's not cheap, when you are flying something that costs more than your house. " Unmanned aircraft are doing more than just making movies in the Ozarks.

The Missouri Attorney General's office released new data from traffic stops by every law enforcement agency statewide in 2011, and show a rise in the disparity between white and black drivers pulled over in Missouri. The report summarizes the data from 631 law enforcement agencies in Missouri for calendar year 2011. An additional 44 agencies indicated they made no traffic stops during the year. The data represented 96 percent of the 705 law enforcement agencies in the state. Attorney General Chris Koster, in published comments on the Internet, said the disparity index for African-Americans rose and is still a concern.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Possible ways for Greene County to deal with frequent and severe overcrowding at its jail are the topics of a meeting on Monday.  The jail is designed to hold 485 inmates; at its peak this year, it's had 595. The Safety and Justice Roundtable, a group of civic and law enforcement leaders, is exploring ideas to deal with the issue, which is a danger to jailers and inmates alike.  Sheriff Jim Arnott is looking for ways to...

PEEL, Ark. -- A woman who was missing since last Wednesday was found dead near her former home, authorities said Wednesday morning. The body of Jane Jones, 87, was in the woods near Peel, the Marion County Sheriff's Department  said.  The body was about 80 yards from her vehicle, which was roughly 125 yards away from a rural road. Jones had been reported missing from her home in Harrison on Wednesday, Oct. 24, and law enforcement officers issued a Silver Alert for her.  Law enforcement and volunteers helped search for her. Deputies say there are no signs of foul play.

MT. VERNON, Mo.-- Law enforcement will be meeting with cattle farmers on February 7th to discuss a recent rash of cattle thefts in the Lawrence County area. Several farms have been targeted in recent weeks. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 7th at the University of Missouri Research Center located on Highway H just south of Mt. Vernon. The meeting begins at 7:00 pm. Representatives from the county sheriffs' offices will be on hand, as well as members of the Missouri Highway Patrol and prosecutors from Lawrence and Dade County.

MINERAL POINT, Mo. -- Authorities have apprehended a man being sought in the shooting death of a 31-year-old Washington County deputy. Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Juston Wheetley says Christopher Parsons was shot and killed while responding to an emergency call early Saturday about an unconscious person near Mineral Point, a community of about 350 residents southwest of St. Louis. Parsons was shot as emergency crews loaded the unconscious person into an ambulance. Wheetley says the suspect, 30-year-old Gary Sancegrow of Mineral Point, was taken into custody without incident at about 5:15 p.m.   Several law enforcement agencies including the FBI had been searching for Sancegrow, who Wheetley says fled the scene on foot.