Fairfax County Police Watch: idiots at work

Birmingham AL police officers under investigation over videotaped beating of security guard who had hands in air [3] http://is.gd/QZHiEU

Pittsburgh PA cop who was sued in a $150k brutality settlement earlier this month is now under investigation over alleged road rage case [3] http://is.gd/G92rEZ

Arnaudville LA settles suit for undisclosed amount to man shot in back of legs while trying to run from cop [0] http://is.gd/VNtsjw

Saskatoon SK police officers accused of kneeing & beating man w/flashlights as retaliation for previous incident [3] http://is.gd/oD7S9c

Tuscaloosa AL cop charged w/sexual assault for allegedly raping a woman he offered a ride to in his police cruiser [0] http://is.gd/G3J86Z

DeKalb Co GA cop indicted for child molestation, rape, & battery for allegedly having sex w/15yr-old & hitting her [0] http://is.gd/SDqkHz

Nashville TN police officer fired after investigation into allegations he had sex w/women he arrested in police car [0] http://is.gd/ZsNssN

San Diego CA cop now faces 18 felony charges involving 5 alleged victims coerced into sex under threat of arrest [0] http://is.gd/gNC6uS

Port Arthur TX cop reassigned from working at school while subject of investigation into relationship w/student [2] http://is.gd/yZCfgH

Espanola NM cop charged w/animal cruelty for allegedly letting dog hit by car suffer for a month before taking it to vet http://shar.es/3TCQk

Contra Costa CA Community College police version of arrest the left woman bruised in library contradicted by witness [3] http://is.gd/ruI8Te

Toronto ON police officer charged w/careless use of firearm for firing shots at car for reckless driving [1] http://is.gd/CvW8yV

Atlanta GA & Fulton County GA police agencies sued alleging they violate law by not documenting seized assets [3] http://is.gd/uxH6h3

Antioch CA police sued by 5 people claiming cop facing charges & others illegally seized their property w/o charges [3] http://is.gd/eNaKi3

Concord CA female police lt who won 2 sex harassment suits now sued by female subordinate alleging sexual assault [3] http://is.gd/tDFB2r

Texas State Tech of Waco TX police chief fired on allegations he misused evidence seized by police dept [1] http://is.gd/ebVHPR

Las Vegas NV cop suspended w/o pay after arrested for allegedly assaulting ex-girlfriend & breaking into her car [0] http://is.gd/zXzR4X

Edinburg TX cop suspended & indicted on allegations of timesheet fraud & sex w/jailed woman and for using a subpoena to find a woman for sex. [0] http://is.gd/LGfz4R

Gaithersburg MD cop fired & 2 others suspended over unrelated but undisclosed misconduct allegations [2] http://is.gd/aEcQCE

Fairfield OH police officer arrested on drunk driving charge after stopped by highway patrol for crossing line [0] http://is.gd/pkolyw

Galveston TX cop convicted for deceptive business practices for failing to complete promised hurricane repairs [0] http://is.gd/ir9RCa

Wakeman OH police officer on administrative leave after arrested on drunk driving charge by state trooper [0] http://is.gd/qPXxS3

Marco Island FL sued by ex-cop alleging he was fired for warning chief about driving to crime scenes while drunk [3] http://is.gd/nQGwbW

An Oneonta NY police officer is the subject of a lawsuit alleging he beat motorist during a cell phone violation traffic stop in front of the police station in front of several other officers who refused to stop it and then denied him medical care. [0]

A Niles MI police officer that we reported being arrested last week on unspecified charges was apparently accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy who was in custody at a juvenile detention facility while the officer was on duty. [1]

A Toronto ON police officer was arrested on sexual assault and child exploitation charges involving a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old boy. [0]

A Covington County MS deputy is the subject of a lawsuit alleging that he followed a man to his home then beat and falsely arrested him. [3]

A Pennsylvania State trooper was fired after he was convicted and sentenced to probation for interfering with a child molestation investigation. [0]

3 Fort Lee NJ police officers were suspended while under investigation for leaving 5 teenage boys locked in police van overnight in near-freezing temperatures after detaining them for underage drinking at a party. [0]

A Jersey City NJ police officer was arrested on child abuse charges on allegations that he tried to coerce a 16-year-old runaway for sex in exchange for a night in a hotel room. The girl got scared while she was in his car and called a friend who then called the police. [0]

2 Washington DC police officers were found liable by a jury in a $97,000 judgment against the city in a suit alleging the officers falsely arrested a woman for “contempt of cop”. [0]

The Denver CO police are being sued by the ACLU for racial bias on behalf of a man who was jailed on false allegations that he was an illegal alien despite his giving the officers a valid ID that the police didn’t recognize or try to validate. [2]

A Baltimore Co MD police sergeant, who is the head of the police union, has been charged with assault for allegedly punching a taxi driver and threatening him with a gun while he was drunk. [0]

5 St Louis MO police officers have apparently admitted to sharing a graphic cellphone photo taken by a fellow SWAT officer of a man who was shot to death in a shootout with police. [0]

A Shreveport LA police officer has been convicted for perjury after he lied on the witness stand about what happened when he ran away from an officer-involved shooting situation involving his fellow officers. [0]

A West Bloomfield MI police officer is facing charges for allegedly soliciting over $1,000 from a man who was involved in an accident as part of a ticket fixing scheme. [0]

A Windsor ON police officer was suspended after arrested on domestic violence charges involving an unidentified woman. [1]

A Conroe TX police officer was fired and indicted for allegedly misusing the department’s letterhead in order to avoid paying taxes on firearms he bought for personal use. [0]

A Modesto CA police officer was arrested for possession of illicit drugs and distribution after an investigation into allegations that he seized drugs but never entered them into evidence. [0]

An El Paso TX police officer faces a termination hearing after arrested on a possession of marijuana charge. [0]

A Suffolk County VA police officer was arrested last month for harassing a man is now facing an additional charge for allegedly hacking into the man’s social networking page. [0]

An Altamonte Springs FL police officer has been suspended for 8 hours without pay for driving an unmarked cruiser to at least 2 bars to drink… after a Casselberry police officer let him go after stopping him for swerving when the Altamonte Springs cop admitted to drinking at a strip club prior to the stop. No word on any disciplinary action against the Casselberry cop. [0

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.