Fairfax County Police Watch: Idiots at work

Murder

New Orleans LA settles suit for an undisclosed sum to the family of a mentally ill man they claim wasn’t a threat when police fatally shot him 9 times.. [0] bit.ly/oLyWfM

At least one Cypress CA cop is accused of harassing the father of Kelly Thomas who was a mentally ill man who was beaten to death by Fullerton cops, two of which are facing manslaughter and murder charges. The interview where the allegations is discussed is at 2:45 in the following link [3] bit.ly/nvf9xH

El Paso Co CO deputy with two previous reckless driving convictions has been fired & faces charges for causing a fatal crash by running a red light [0] bit.ly/qgcUVX

Assault

Fairfax Co VA cop arrested on domestic assault & battery charges after altercation w/unspecified acquaintance [1] bit.ly/pFiKVG

Rome GA cop fired & another was given unspecified discipline for an incident where a 20-year-old man was left paralyzed from a broken neck after he fell down a cliff when he was tasered twice. [0] bit.ly/pFcvSe

Navajo Nation AZ police officer was sentenced to 6 months jail & 6 months house arrest for beating & macing a handcuffed man in retaliation for a run in he had with the officer’s relative who is also a cop. [0] bit.ly/qhlO3o

2 RCMP officers in Manitoba were found guilty of beating a handcuffed man. They claimed he injured himself. [0] bit.ly/nkrgnm

Detroit MI sued by man claiming the officer’s report didn’t match video from the casino where the officer broke his nose after punching him twice in the face then broke his ribs with two punches to his back while they were escorting him out. [4] bit.ly/rqo6jT

Las Vegas NV settles suit for $125k to a female defense attorney who was injured by an officer when he wrenched her arm behind her and up over her head because she was taking too long giving him her papers during a traffic stop for a u-turn she didn’t take. [3] bit.ly/pfMtA3

Dover NJ settles suit for $185k to a man who was 17 when he claimed that a cop beat him in a holding cell in retaliation when he mistook him for his brother who the officer claimed had hit him earlier that evening. [3] bit.ly/qMvQ0c

Arkansas State Univ cop arrested after alleged dispute with Jonesboro AR cop who was arresting his nephew, it’s unclear why the nephew was being arrested. [0] bit.ly/qhKU6c

Los Angeles Co CA report on jail by ACLU contains details on allegations of widespread abuses by sheriff’s deputies. That report contained 70 testimonies from civilians, jail employees and prisoners alike and will likely be used as the basis of a planned lawsuit. [3] http://nyti.ms/qgUaZm

Child abuse

DeKalb Co GA cop pleads guilty to several charges for molesting two 15-year-old girls at a school and for drug possession. [0] bit.ly/p0y7Ks

Oxford MS cop was suspended w/o pay after indicted on felony child abuse and sexual battery charges [0] bit.ly/ru5B4x

Kiowa Co CO deputy who was also a Lamar CO reserve officer was arrested on sexual assault on a child by a person of trust charge. [0] bit.ly/nKQT2N

Pennington Co SD deputy was sentenced to 30 years in prison for possession & manufacture of child porn. He allegedly used his position to gain access the kids he took explicit pictures of until a 6-year-old boy reported him. [0] bit.ly/rsAUif

Northside Independent School Dist TX police officer fired after arrested for causing bodily injury to a young child who was a relative. [1] bit.ly/p8oezq

Sexual assault

2 Richmond VA deputies fired on allegations of “inappropriate contact” with female jail detainees, they may still face charges. [1] bit.ly/nGgWyn

Dallas TX cop resigns while investigated for allegedly coercing 2 female theft victims to show him their breasts [0] bit.ly/neMHBp

Theft

Romulus MI ex-police chief & 5 cops arrested for misappropriation of public funds involving a prostitution probe. Apparently it’s being alleged that the officers used public funds to pay for sex. [1] bit.ly/nTce81

Martins Ferry OH ex-police chief in jail for celeb surrogate burglary sentenced to 3 more years for stolen dpt guns [0] bit.ly/qkqpfW

Morganton NC cop pleads guilty for embezzling $9,000 from police union to pay for trips to beach & electronics [0] bit.ly/nQSJyj

Indio CA police chief fired for his role in multi-million dollar federal grant scandal that led to one conviction [0] bit.ly/oUuj51

Easton PA cop resigns while investigated for allegedly taking lost wallet but not reporting it or turning it over [0] bit.ly/nH4UEW

Drug/drunk

Ohio state trooper resigns after arrested on fraud charges and is currently under investigation for alleged links to drug trafficking [0] bit.ly/oHMN0P

Daviess Co IN deputy suspended while investigated for an alleged by unspecified compromise of info in drug case [1] bit.ly/nOLuIA

Baltimore MD cop arrested for driving drunk, leading cops on high-speed chase, reaching for gun & resisting arrest [0] bsun.md/nSHMc0

New Castle NY sued by police lieutenant claiming he was retaliated against for investigating a sergeant who came to work drunk [4] bit.ly/r55lIj

Obstruction

Cicero IL cop sentenced to 2yrs prison after pleading guilty to leaking info to alleged mob racketeering bosses [0] bit.ly/puIYlT

Money laundering

2 of 3 Lake Co IN deputies charged w/money laundering & selling military-grade firearms on internet have accepted a plea deal [0] bit.ly/nv4VGC

Bribery & corrupt influence

Baton Rouge LA cop sentenced to 3yrs prison after pleading no contest to bribery & corrupt influence charges [0] bit.ly/o8IR5K

Los Angeles Co CA deputy resigns & may face charge for accepting $1500 to smuggle a cell phone into jail in a sting that was part of an ongoing FBI investigation into that jail. [0] http://lat.ms/nEfMQX

New York NY police recorded in wiretaps associated with the ticket fixing scandal there were apparently using racist remarks with such frequency that many other officers may face discipline for it and prosecutors are desperately trying to keep those recordings from being unsealed in court in fear of jeopardizing criminal cases where those officers were arresting officers. [3] nydn.us/p8HCbE

Standard Nazi behavior

New York NY cop accused of detaining & harassing tourist for legally taking photograph at 9/11 memorial [3] bit.ly/qE3D1d

Witness intimidation

Lynn MA cop found guilty of witness intimidation when he hit man w/car [0] bit.ly/p57RKZ

Control the press, control the bad news

Pittsburgh PA police are being sued by a man who claims he was detained without charge for 12hrs at a G20 protest despite having press credentials [3] bit.ly/opcGxm

It was finally confirmed today that New York NY police detained a PBS WNET journalist for 9 hours during the “Occupy Wall Street” protests when he tried to to interview the women who were peppersprayed without cause in the above video that we first reported on this weekend. [4] bit.ly/ri5I8R

Cops and women…..a strange, strange relationship

San Diego CA police sgt gets probation in plea for stalking & harassing phone calls to female cop, still on duty [0] bit.ly/pTyknO

RCMP officer in BC is under investigation after being accused of repeatedly punching a handcuffed 17-year-old girl in the face in the back of his cruiser after police were called to help her. The girl was not charged with any crime. [3] bit.ly/q3XQ69

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.