Fairfax County Police Watch: Idiots at work, part of the national police problem

Murder/ homicide

Fort Myers FL cop investigated after witness claims he fatally shot suspect in back after he dropped gun & was laying face-down from being shot in the chest. [0] http://t.co/pmQp7w3Z

Clovis NM settles suit for $1.05mil to family of woman who died in crash w/cop facing trial for vehicular homicide [0] http://t.co/yLUh2dyK

Assault

Culpepper Co VA deputy charged w/assault for beating restrained detainee in incident that cost 4 others their jobs [0] http://t.co/wN9OqKg0

Hall Co GA deputy subject of suit by man alleging deputy erased audio tapes after beating & falsely arresting him [3] http://t.co/F445Aeb8

2 Texas DPS officers indicted for official oppression for allegedly mistreating 2 detained men while off duty [1] http://t.co/4OYswBbd

Boulder CO settles suit for $80k to mentally ill woman tasered thru screen door in home [0] http://t.co/5sNFMv1w

2 Powder Springs GA cops investigated after choking, beating & tasering man on dashcam when he reacted to grope [1] http://t.co/Yi8rQA8d

Gaitlinburg TN cop gets judicial diversion to clear record after probation in plea to assaulting couple at bar [0] http://t.co/RK7B2NKw

Detroit MI police are the subject of a 2nd lawsuit alleging an act of excessive force was caught on video at a local casino. This time from a man who claims he was choked & beaten with a baton without cause. [3] http://t.co/4lrhL6tO

Glouster OH settles suit for $16k to man claiming cops used excessive force when he complained about an illegal serach of his car without permission or warrant [0] http://t.co/ici3hjFv

Westfield IN cop is on leave while under investigation after a fellow officer reported him for using excessive force when he allegedly pistolwhipped an alleged shoplifter and threatened his mother with a gun. [0] http://t.co/uqDa5YDc

Berwyn IL police are being sued by man claiming cops needlessly beat, tasered & falsely arrested him during a raid on his sister’s home where he was staying. While the reasons for the raid weren’t disclosed in the filing, the charges against him were dropped afterward. [3] http://t.co/GMgAY6at

Cops, Kids and Sex

Slaton TX cop assigned to local schools has taken a plea deal for receiving child pornography after an investigation by the DHS. [0] http://t.co/lUZp6THC

3 Albuquerque NM cops investigated after accused of performing cavity searches on suspect in front of kids in public[0] http://t.co/dfaxwJQ4

Creepy cop behavior

Shelby Co OH sheriff already charged w/sexual battery now indicted on 5 counts misuse of police database [1] http://t.co/1wSJSmjO

Ottawa ON cop demoted over inappropriate relationship with domestic assault victim in case he investigated [0] http://t.co/GyUgDn8q

Fair Oaks TX cop sentenced to 2yrs prison in fed stalking case for sending explicit pics of woman to her coworkers [0] http://t.co/NDze943u

Norwich CT cop on paid leave resigns to end investigation into allegations of unspecified “improper activity” [2] http://t.co/wQRvYfPk

Fullerton CA has entered into a tentative settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed by 2 women alleging the department failed to discipline, and thus encouraged, a cop to continue sexually abusing women despite a history of 12 sexual assault complaints that were bolstered by the fact that he would violate policy by turning off his audio recorder during each alleged incident. The department only gave him a reprimand for turning off the recorder during stops involving women. [3] http://t.co/IkcZJU3r

Theft

Easton PA cop charged w/theft after resigning for stealing $375 from lost wallet then throwing wallet in dumpster [0] http://t.co/YaLVEEzg

Los Angeles CA police detective was arrested for domestic violence, false imprisonment & threats against his live-in girlfriend [0] http://t.co/8tu6Qfe2

Midland MI cop gets probation & community service in a plea deal for possessing a stolen Rent-A-Center flat screen TV [0] http://t.co/In2Lo4iV

Fort Worth TX cop fired on allegations she falsified timesheets & used patrol car as her personal vehicle [0] http://t.co/d1bdgb1u

Orlando FL cop was suspended 30 days after caught selling stolen theme park tickets, a scheme that earned him $15k a year. [0] http://t.co/4OYswBbd

Dope/Drunk

Houston TX Baptist Univ police officer arrested on possession of cocaine with intent to deliver charges [0] http://t.co/tHV2on2u

Levy Co FL deputy arrested for possession & selling controlled substances after state investigation [0] http://t.co/v22tCJAk

US Border Patrol agent still on leave for attempt to smuggle 745lbs of pot arrested for possession at traffic stop [0] http://t.co/58J3T9kM

Concord CA ex-cop sentenced to 18mo prison for role in marijuana grow op, dept won’t say if he was cop at time [3] http://t.co/Pp6S79AU

Tarentum PA cop who also works for East Deer PA PD arrested on DUI charges after crashing into parked truck [0] http://t.co/riMPIP6z

Pennsylvania state liquor control officer arrested on DUI charges w/.117 BAC after crashing state-owned vehicle [0] http://t.co/TjM4z7DR

Ferndale MI police are refusing to criminally investigate a police chaplain even after he admitted to doing meth with a man who died from an overdose. [0] http://t.co/Ao2QJNeh

Stockton CA police sgt is on leave after arrested on child endangerment & drunk driving charges. [0] http://t.co/Gz1CuwGX

Winsooki VT cop gets probation in plea to DUI after found unresponsive behind wheel of his truck with a .429 BAC. As one commenter on Twitter noted, he’s lucky he’s still alive with a BAC like that. [0] http://t.co/nl1KN3Qx

Harassment /False arrest

Lee Co FL sheriff is part of a lawsuit filed by pawn brokers alleging the department encouraged a rogue deputy to continually harass pawn brokers and to falsely arrest them [3] http://t.co/VH839aRs

Weasel Cop 101

Nampa ID police sued by 2 internal affairs officers & the wife of one of the officers alleging whistleblower retaliation after they tried to report misconduct and then writing to city officials when the department refused to act. [3] http://t.co/rPdi1SOD

Domestic violence

Los Angeles CA police detective was arrested for domestic violence, false imprisonment & threats against his live-in girlfriend [0] http://t.co/8tu6Qfe2

Fraud

Spokane Co WA deputy resigns & expected to take plea deal over housing fraud involving an “Officer Next Door” program that gives cops half off of houses. [0] http://t.co/e4zJowSH

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.