Fairfax County Police Watch: Too much money, not enough to do, to many people on the payroll

The Washington TimesNovember 18, 1994, Friday, Final EditionCity officer says he tried to spread word on sex ringA D.C. police officer tried to tell Fairfax County police two months ago that a Springfield man was involved in child prostitution, but his call was never returned, a D.C. police union official said yesterday.

The Washington PostSeptember 10, 1991, Tuesday, Final Edition12 Fairfax Park Officers To Guard the Mahogany;Unit Disbanded to Patrol Posh County CenterFairfax County police are eliminating the 20-member force that patrols the county's parks to shift some of those officers to duties at the county's new $ 100 million government center

The Washington PostSeptember 12, 1985, Thursday, Final EditionFairfax County Drops Case Against Stripper;Woman Alleged Police EntrapmentFairfax County prosecutors yesterday unexpectedly dropped a charge of indecent exposure against a professional stripper who said she had been entrapped by a group of county police officers.

Victor Cruz, 33, a native of El Salvador, charged in a federal suit filed in September 1992 that he suffered permanent brain damage in 1989 when police handcuffed and then clubbed him. David Kayson, Cruz's attorney, argued yesterday that because Smith was a high-level officer that his actions constituted department policy. "This is a command officer," Kayson said. "It suggested that there was a high probability that it was policy" to use extreme force against suspects.

The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973). Washington, D.C.: May 20, 1970. pg. C4, 1 pgs A 5-year-old Fairfax County boy suffered a broken left arm and pelvis yesterday when he was struck by a car driven by a county policeman in the 2200 block of Huntington Avenue.

The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973). Washington, D.C.: Aug 27, 1970. pg. B8, 1 pgs A Fairfax County policeman chasing a speeding car was injured early yesterday when his cruiser crashed into a third car, police reported.

The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973). Washington, D.C.: Dec 1, 1970. pg. C6, 1 pgsThe assistant manager of a Tysons Corner drug store was charged Sunday with violating Virginia's blue laws as Fairfax County police opened a campaign to warn merchants tempted to take advantage of the Christmas shopping season by opening on Sunday.

Policeman Accused of Shoplifting The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973). A 35-year-old Fairfax County policeman has been charged with shoplifting while moonlighting as a supermarket security guard, county police disclosed today.

Policeman's Death Ruled An Accident The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973). Washington, D.C.: Aug 28, 1971. pg. B1, 1 pgs An off-duty Fairfax County policeman shot and killed himself at his home in Arlington last night.
August 4, 1990
Fairfax Cops form labor union
Overpaid and unhappy Fairfax cops formed a union called Fairfax COPS Local 5000 as an alternative to the Fairfax County Police Association, because they don’t like working shifts. In retrospect, the Chupaz Union would have been a more befitting name

August 7, 1989
Christopher Stokes, 48, a youth counselor and Realtor who in 1967 became Fairfax County's first black police officer, died Aug. 4 at Fair Oaks Hospital. He had sickle cell anemia. He left the Fairfax police in 1973. Since 1974, he had been a youth counselor with the Fairfax County courts and a part-time Realtor with Mount Vernon Realty in Fairfax. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he had testified for federal attorneys against Fairfax County. It was charged that the county discriminated against blacks and women in its hiring and promotion policies. In 1982, the Justice Department accepted a settlement offer by Fairfax County that involved the distribution of $ 2.75 million to 685 discrimination victims. Mr. Stokes was among those who received awards.

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.