Fairfax County Police Watch: Idiots at work report

Seattle WA police officer who fatally shot woodcarver resigns after review board found shooting unjustified [0] http://is.gd/m5d1GV

Everett WA settles suit for $500k to daughter of man fatally shot by cop while unarmed & boxed in inside his car [0] http://is.gd/gkTTpP

Jackson MS responsible for $500k of $23mil jury award to unarmed man shot in head by cop working security at hotel [0] http://is.gd/f9qGyn

Santa Ana CA settles suit for $600k to family of man shot to death by police under questionable circumstances [0] http://is.gd/mzAb2B

Ironton OH settles suit for unnamed sum to family of man who died when allegedly tasered after fleeing into river [1] http://is.gd/K7zXwt

Ellaville GA cop on leave while investigated by state on sexual battery allegations, cop who reported him was fired [5] http://is.gd/wYVeuc

Sea Isle City NJ settles suit for $500k to man who was 16 when he claims cops beat him then lied to justify it [3] http://is.gd/7qn2XS

St-Eustache QC police officer suspended w/o pay for slamming woman against car for parking violation at grade school [0] http://is.gd/JBekBh

Crossville AL police officer indicted on theft charge on allegations he stole laptop from car during traffic stop [0] http://is.gd/KZcaUD

Ft Lauderdale FL cop resigns in plea deal to theft charges for stalking & having sex w/woman while he was on clock [0] http://is.gd/nfZyrZ

Orleans County VT deputy charged w/neglect of duty & unlawful trespass after an illegal traffic stop & home entry [1] http://is.gd/19sKIE

California State Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement officer arrested w/private investigator on drug trafficking charges [0] http://is.gd/LFyIkE

North Carolina state trooper on administrative duty while under investigation on allegations of doctor shopping [0] http://is.gd/ZPsm0R

5 Providence RI police sergeants demoted & must repay city for scheme to get paid for time not worked [0] http://is.gd/QsA1EW

Goodyear AZ police officer who won medal of valor indicted on theft, forgery & fraud charges for overtime fraud [0] http://is.gd/OTtdDv

Thomasville NC police detective charged w/insurance fraud & obstruction, also accused of contacting witness [0] http://is.gd/sGaacp

Grand Traverse Co MI deputy sentenced to 6mo jail (probation after 45days) for attempted assault on state trooper [0] http://is.gd/3LKT6p

Broome County NY deputy sentenced to probation for official misconduct & unrelated public lewdness charges [0] http://is.gd/z4UCAx

Mount Washington KY police officer arrested on multiple charges for allegedly assaulting & threatening wife with gun [0] http://is.gd/em5xid

Shreveport LA police officer on leave after issued a misdemeanor domestic violence summons over unspecified incident [2] http://is.gd/TN7a8q

Hendersonville TN police officer suspended after arrested on domestic violence charge in unspecified incident [1] http://is.gd/Cm6EVt

Vermont state trooper suspended after arrested on domestic violence allegations stemming from 911 hang-up call [1] http://is.gd/P1hS7Z

Roswell NM police sgt fired for unspecified reasons while police detective wife demoted after domestic battery arrest [0] http://is.gd/55Lecj

Winn Parish LA sheriff’s home & office searched by state police in ongoing investigation into unspecified allegations [2] http://is.gd/8xZz0X

Morrogh finds cop he doesn’t love. In other news, hell freezes.

Probe of fatal police shooting goes to federal authorities

By Justin Jouvenal/Post

The Fairfax County prosecutor has turned over the investigation of a fatal police shooting of an unarmed Springfield man to federal authorities, citing complications with the five-month-old case.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh said the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia has agreed to continue the probe into the death of 46-year-old John Geer, who was shot during a standoff with Fairfax County police in August. No one has been charged in the incident.

“There is a conflict of interest that has arisen in the case,” Morrogh said Thursday. “And there is a second potential conflict of interest that has arisen out of my office. . . . This is the prudent thing to do.”

Morrogh declined to describe the nature of the conflicts because the investigation is ongoing. The U.S. attorney’s office said Thursday that it could not confirm or deny any investigation or comment on pending investigations.

Police went to Geer’s Pebble Brook Court home on Aug. 29 because of a report of a domestic disturbance. Geer’s father, Don Geer, said his son was upset because his girlfriend, the mother of his two children, had decided to leave him.

John Geer had thrown his girlfriend’s belongings in the front yard. She called police and told them that Geer had a firearm. Police said they tried for about 50 minutes to persuade Geer to leave the home, but he refused.

Don Geer said he watched the climax of the encounter. He said that he could not hear what officers were saying to his son but that he saw him standing with empty hands resting on top of a screen door at the home’s entrance.

At some point, John Geer began to slowly lower his hands and an officer opened fire, hitting Geer in the chest, his father said. Geer retreated inside and closed the door. A SWAT team eventually entered the home and found Geer dead.

Don Geer said detectives later told him that his son did not have a gun on him at the time of the shooting but that there was a holstered handgun a couple of steps from the front door.

Don Geer said it appeared to him that the shooting was unjustified, but he was unsure what to make of the probe being turned over to federal authorities.

“I don’t know whether that’s good or bad — if I had a better idea of why they are doing it, I could form an opinion,” he said.

Geer and friends of his son have been critical of how long the investigation has taken, but Morrogh said police and prosecutors were working to explore all the evidence. He did not think federal prosecutors would have to start from scratch.

“No one wants these things to linger on,” Morrogh said.

Our ink will outlast his career

Under the reign of former Chief of Police Rhorer the Fairfax County Police arrested a man for not wearing clothes in his house while he made coffee, set up an eye doctor on a gambling charge and then used the SWAT team to kill him. An investigation into the charge that the Doctor’s primary clients were cops has never been investigated. The police gunned down an emotionally unstable man because cop who shot him wrongly assumed the man was trying to escape. He wasn’t. The cops also shot dead four other citizens under highly questionable circumstances. The department under Rhorer was sued multiple times by citizens. So did they fire Rhorer? Naw they promoted him. According to news reports Rhorer draws a salary of $191,168 per year as Deputy Fairfax County Executive as well as a concurrent pension from the Fairfax County police of $173000 per year.

Occupation by force

According to the most recent U.S. Census figures, nearly one in five Fairfax residents (17.5 percent) is of Asian descent while Hispanics make up nearly 16 percent of Fairfax’s overall population. Those numbers drop considerably when applied to the Fairfax County Police Department, where only 4.3 percent of officers are Asian and 4.1 percent Hispanic. White officers make up 84 percent of Fairfax County’s 1,360-member police department, significantly higher than the county’s general population (54 percent white). Almost 90% of the force lives outside the county.