Security

Missouri House bill on ATM smash and grab leads to debate

May 31, 2023

The Missouri House has approved a bill that makes ATM smash and grab attacks a felony. The bill's sponsor Rep. Rick Francis, Republican, said that currently there is no specific penalty for these types of attacks beyond charges such as vandalism or property damage, according to a report by The Moberly Monitor Index.

"We are trying to clarify these crimes... to deter the criminal activity is taking place in Missouri and hopefully protect critical financial services in our communities," Francis told the news outlet.

The bill received push back from Democrats, including Rep. Peter Merideth who said it is unnecessary to add more charges and that the bill would lead to longer incarceration times for nonviolent crimes.

"It's not going to make it go away," Merideth told the news outlet. "It's not going to fix it. It's just going to be people are locked up for longer and our incarcerations are going to go back up, and our state's going to have to keep paying more money in 10 and 15 years on the prison system."

In addition, Democrat Rep. LaKeySha Bosley said the state should spend its budget surplus on housing, healthcare and childcare instead of ATM crimes.

A similar bill called the Safe Access to Cash Act, which aims to protect both independently owned ATMs and service people, has been presented to the U.S. House of Representatives.