Fairfax County Police Watch: This week’s candidates for the Brian Sonnenberg Peaceful Resolution to Conflict Center Award. Fairfax County Police

Detroit MI cop has been suspended after arrested on felony assault charges for allegedly pistol whipping man at teen girl’s birthday party. While this report downplays the allegations by saying the officer was only accused of pointing his gun at the victim, the original allegations from September, here, say he was beaten so badly that an environmental clean-up crew had to be called to clean up all the blood. [0] http://bit.ly/tfSulv

Univ of California Berkeley CA is being sued alleging police used excessive force on #OccupyCal protesters including actions in a videotaped incident showing officers hitting protesters with batons. 24 plaintiffs are involved in the suit so far. [3] bit.ly/uy27oT

Denver CO cop in figherfighter beating case docked 2days pay for not documenting detainee’s injuries in other case [0] bit.ly/unPxgm

Niagara Co NY deputies accused of excessive force on business owner who refused to show ID at false burglary call [1] bit.ly/s25SZj

Santa Fe NM police union tries to pressure a journalist into revealing who gave him a police brutality video that resulted in 2 cops being fired and 2 others being disciplined. [5] is.gd/TuMsMs

3 Santa Rosa CA cops investigated for beating a man on video, breaking 3 of his ribs, then arresting the person who recorded the incident on his cellphone and his friend who also claims the officers used excessive force on him as well. [3] bit.ly/rJTu1w

Bartlesville OK cops charged with assault after an investigation into allegations that they used excessive force on a hospital patient. [0] bit.ly/tqJUmW

Endicott NY cops accused of pepperspaying a cuffed man in the back of a cruiser then pepperspaying a radio host who objected to what he witnessed. [4] press.sn/sIWDqe

Beaver PA settles suit for $32k to a man allegedly tasered 2x, hit in head handcuffs then shoved through a window by a cop. [0] bit.ly/ucLSD8

Amherstburg ON cop accused of assaulting police chief’s grandson during a traffic stop faces disciplinary action for it. [0] bit.ly/u6cXS0

Washtenaw Co MI undercover deputy sued by teen alleging the plainclothes officer didn’t identify himself before throwing him through a window because he didn’t stop when commanded. The teen was accosted because the cops thought he was suspicious for running down the sidewalk… when he was only returning from the bank to get change for his employer. [3] bit.ly/ufEEvD

New Jersey jury awards $2.1mil plus $150k in punitive damages in the fatal shooting of Native American by state park police officer. It’s unclear if the state or the officer will have to pay the punitive damages. [0] bit.ly/uZRjWB

Miami-Dade FL cop is accused of opening the door to a woman’s home without a warrant then slamming it on her hand after threatening to arrest her for arguing with a cop that yelled at her for looking out her door as they were searching for a suspect. [4] bit.ly/tebANr

McFarland CA cop was fired for allegedly unleashing his police dog on a man who wasn’t resisting then beating him with his baton. [0] bit.ly/uXXHEZ

New York State Court police officer was sentenced to probation in plea deal for holding a hostage during an armed stand-off with police. [0] stargaz.tt/tTD8cK

Seattle WA officials were slammed by the NAACP for their reaction, or lack thereof, to a sharply critical letter from top DOJ officials recommending they fix problems that hindered the prosecution of police officers for brutality. The letter, and the reaction, was prompted by the city attorney dropping assault charges against an undercover cop caught on camera kicking a teen and then caught punching a man who recorded him on the same night… though the officer wasn’t charged for that either. City officials infuriatingly claim they can’t do anything the feds tell them to do without asking permission to do so from the police union. [3] bit.ly/w4HaUM

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.