Fairfax County Police Watch: Idiots at work

Assault

3 San Bernardino Co CA deputies sued alleging 5 taser cartridges were used for over 10mins when a man was tasered to death for honking at cop [3] on.msnbc.com/p9zyNj

Aransas Pass TX cops say dashcam wasn’t working when bicyclist was allegedly hit by cruiser then badly beaten [4] bit.ly/qYyivo

Arlington TX settles suit for $25k to man tasered 2x by cop even as witnesses told him it was wrong man (update) [3] bit.ly/q9JU3g

12+ Chicago IL cops sued by brothers shown in video being attacked by cops inside store where they work [3] bit.ly/qIFhvv

Morton VA police sgt pleads guilty to domestic battery, sentenced to fine & forbidden to have firearm, ending career [0] bit.ly/qF9kJ8

Manslaughter

Wyoming settles suit for $500k to family of man who died when while being restrained by troopers after crash [0] bit.ly/r2inWD

Attempted manslaughter

Youngstown OH cop disciplined for trying to disable suspect by shooting at his foot instead of shooting to kill [0] bit.ly/pOT2Ht

False arrest

Russell Co AL deputy found guilty of civil rights violation for brutally beating man on ground while cuffed [0] bit.ly/oix1fE

•Altoona PA judge finds cops had no cause to arrest man peppersprayed & injured during arrest for resisting arrest [3] http://bit.ly/nHkwPm

Animal abuse

Washington DC cop accused of shooting woman’s dog after pointing gun at them then refusing to give badge number [1] wj.la/qtEEBN

Rape

Jackson Co MO lawsuit by woman raped by deputy at age 15 alleges dept failed to stop pattern of sexual misconduct [3] bit.ly/p1623Q

Racist behavior

Texas Police Chief organization hacks by Anonymous reveal racist & homophobic emails by police chiefs [0] gizmo.do/mYin7p

Anniston AL police accused of pattern of racism by cop saying he got fed up & resigned, FBI probe requested [2] bit.ly/pby3tF

New York NY police sued by cop alleging he was demoted for reporting supervisor for racist language & using quotas [4] nydn.us/pdlDzp

Good news

King NC cop subject of state investigation but officials refuse to say why after secret city council meeting [2] bit.ly/n6rfit

Sandusky OH cop on leave while subject of unspecified investigation into actions during dispute between biker clubs [2] bit.ly/o18UAv

Larceny/ theft

North Providence RI police chief arrested for larceny on allegations he stole $720 from motorist’s purse after chase [0] bit.ly/pXyIxN

Manistee MI cop subject of warrant for allegedly stealing money from someone’s wallet & embezzling money from dept [0] bit.ly/pkzLG6

Williamson Co IL deputy arrested of allegedly taking pot from task force seizures and giving it to others to sell [0] bit.ly/mVB6k2

Cliffside Park NJ cop suspended after arrested on shoplifting charge in unspecified incident, makes $107k/yr [1] bit.ly/pngYNb

Just being a jerk in general

Winnipeg MB police sued by transgendered woman claiming cops mocked her during mistaken ID arrest [1] bit.ly/pGrdMO

Illegal search

US Border Patrol sued by agent claiming he was retaliated against for reporting illegal search of car by supervisors [3] bit.ly/qkwwQ2

Sexual harassment

Mason City IA cop blaming sex harassment & retaliation for her firing now says 2 cops implicated in abduction case [3] bit.ly/oUt3rJ

Drugs/ DUI/ Alcohol

Snohomish Co Regional Drug & Gang Task Force leader suspended 6 days after convicted on DUI charge in Arizona [1] bit.ly/nfnkLK

St Louis Co MO police say no policy against cops drinking & driving patrol cars after man films cop doing just that [3] bit.ly/owXfx1

Jacksonville FL cop charged w/DUI after investigation into head-on crash between his cruiser and another car [0] bit.ly/nNaTBW

Fraud

Mesa AZ cop & wife plead guilty to solicitation to commit mortgage fraud by lying to get loan modification [0] bit.ly/mVS0NK

False statement/Perjury

Daytona Beach FL cop arrested on felony false statement & misuse of personal info for renewing tags under ex’s name [0] thesent.nl/ohRAJN

Ft Lauderdale FL cop on leave while investigated for perjuring himself after report & testimony contradicted by GPS [0] bit.ly/psktap

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.