Fairfax County Police Watch: 01/21/11

A Maricopa County AZ deputy’s version of events in a fatal shooting incident are disputed by a witness alleging that the shooting was unnecessary.

Monterey CA & Monterey County CA are being sued by the family of man who died in a fire caused by flash-bang grenade during a questionable raid where he wasn’t even the real suspect.

2 Columbia MS police officers are accused of using excessive force and falsely arresting a man in court after a cop on the witness stand became enraged when that man’s friend called him a liar, the judge did nothing to stop it.

A Denver CO cop is sued alleging she used excessive force and falsely arrested a business owner who asked her to move her cruiser that was blocking his entrance. She happens to be the 2nd female Denver cop in trouble for excessive force who was also on the American Gladiator TV show

A Simi Valley CA cop who was the subject of a previous excessive force settlement involving his police dog is being sued again on allegations he intentionally and needlessly ordered his dog to attack a man he detained. The suit also alleges that officers took pictures of the attack and taunted the man with it in repeated attempts to intimidate him.

A Saguenay QC cop was arrested for violating bail conditions set after he was charged with several sexual assault and drug trafficking charges

A now-former Gallatin County IL sheriff was sentenced to 2 life terms in prison for dealing drugs on-duty and for plotting to kill the witnesses.

3 Chicago IL cops are being sued by an alderman alleging she was falsely arrested on DUI charges because she demanded a cop’s badge number when he blocked the road with his cruiser.

A San Bernardino County CA deputy was charged with DUI after a 2-car accident. Oddly, he was immediately released but the woman he hit was jailed even though she passed a breathalyzer 3 times. No explanation was given for that.

A Winter Haven FL police officer was suspended & arrested after caught stealing marijuana from evidence by a fellow cop

A Worcester MA police officer was convicted on federal conspiracy to distribute marijuana charges. Can’t give more details because the only site carrying the report was pay-per-view subscriber-based.

A Dakota County NE sheriff’s sergeant resigned while subject of federal investigation over unspecified computer crimes

3 Oak Hill FL cops are under investigation for cheating on tests while the police chief is also accused of covering it up

A Trenton NJ cop & 2 aides were charged with record tampering & falsified documentation for failing to check on a man who was later found dead in his cell from liver failure.

A now-former Santa Fe NM sheriff was arrested on 251 counts of embezzlement & 1 fraud charge for allegedly selling county equipment on E-Bay to pay gambling debts and other personal expenses.

An Ozaukee County WI sheriff’s lieutenant was sentenced to 6 months in jail & probation for stealing over $8k before he retired

An RCMP cop was charged with theft on allegations that he stole $40-$70 in change from a desk at a community policing office

A Salisbury MA police chief resigned while the subject of an ongoing investigation into unspecified misconduct allegations

And finally, a South Bend IN cop faces a 30 day suspension for interfering with the investigation into allegations he stole his ex-wife’s license plate

A Lubbock TX police officer has resigned before he was arrested on 2 counts of sexual assault of a child and indecency w/child involving his 16 and 12-year-old adoptive daughters.

Liberty PA cop charged w/involuntary manslaughter after his 5yr-old son fatally shot self with the officer’s service weapon.

A Michigan State trooper is charged with 2 counts of 2nd degree criminal sexual misconduct with a girl under the age of 13

An Illinois State trooper has been sentenced to probation in a plea deal for reckless homicide for a 126mph on-duty crash that killed 2 teen girls. In the same case, an Illinois court awarded $8,000,000 to the parents of those teens

A Louisville KY cop was suspended 15 days for charging a 7-year-old boy with criminal mischief for hitting his truck with a ball even though there was no damage.

A La Crosse Co WI deputy charged with negligent homicide after crashing into a teen’s car with his cruiser at about 96mph.

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.