Governor Jay Nixon has vetoed a bill that he said would have given some corporate security officers new powers to act like police anywhere in the state.
The bill vetoed Friday was a follow-up to one he signed last year giving the state Department of Public Safety the authority to license "corporate security advisors."
This year's bill would have expanded that by giving the department director the authority to "commission" the corporate officers.
Nixon said an official commission would have given corporate security officers the power to arrest and search people and to seize property — not only on corporate grounds, but anywhere in the state.
He described the bill as a "broad grant of police authority to private individuals."