Fairfax County Police Watch: 04/29/11

Houston TX cop sued by family of man who was unarmed when fatally shot by cop, witnesses contradict official report [3] http://bit.ly/iUSu2k

Denver CO may settle suit for $795k to man who suffered severe head injuries when beaten by cops in traffic stop [2] http://bit.ly/jI0JG5

South Beloit IL sued by woman shown in video tased 2x by police sgt then choked by police chief while cuffed [3] http://bit.ly/jgymlf

Franklin MA settles suit for undisclosed sum to 4 univ students claiming 2 cops used excessive force in traffic stop [4] http://bit.ly/l496ef

Milwaukee WI sued by man wrongfully convicted of murder comitted by serial killer, claims detectives framed him [3] http://bit.ly/l604lh

Clarksburg WV, Shinnston WV & Harrison Co WV cops sued by man claiming they chased & beat him before letting him go [3] http://bit.ly/ig07YR

US FBI, East Hanover NJ & Union Co NJ sued by man who was 16 when cops tossed him down stairs during wrong door raid [3] http://bit.ly/kp9yE3

Alaska State trooper subject of 2 suits, 1 claims he punched cuffed man, other he kicked man retrieving his license [3] http://bit.ly/kJqeje

Batavia IL settles suit for $26k to man punched in head by cop for trying to keep pants up after cops took his belt [1] http://bit.ly/lVqW1O

Gretna FL police officer found guilty of sexual battery by a law enforcement officer, coerced woman at traffic stop [0] http://bit.ly/ikKmiM

Norman OK settles suit for $40k to man shot by cop… and $174k to cop that shot him & appealed being fired for it [0] http://bit.ly/kiD9qT

Vancouver BC police sued by group alleging pattern of police dog incidents including man attacked while fixing bike [3] http://bit.ly/kp4Y3x

Mesa AZ police officer indicted on allegations he misused police database to harass women he met on duty [0] http://bit.ly/joTHfb

Kenneth City FL police subject of 110pg report citing general misconduct after mayor asked sheriff to investigate [4] http://bit.ly/kNkNdf

Nashville TN police officer resigns after accused of making unwanted advances towards person he arrested [1] http://bit.ly/lybHNz

Palm Beach Co FL deputy accused of using anti-agroterrorism training to destroy neighbor’s yard in 2yr fued [0] http://bit.ly/lonAMl

A Houston TX police officer is the subject of a lawsuit filed by a man who was unarmed when the officer shot him in the neck during a traffic stop for failure to signal a turn. The officer claimed he was afraid for his life when the man reached in his pocket during the stop. [3]

The same Houston TX police officer is the subject of a second lawsuit filed by a professional athlete who claims the officer needlessly hit him in the head with a baton while he was shopping for shoes with his son. [3]

Hartford CT police are being sued by a man who spent 20 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of murdering a teen. The suit alleges that the wrongful conviction came about because police ignored evidence that contradicted their case against him. [3]

The Monroe County NY sheriff’s department is being sued by a man who spent 18 years in prison on a wrongful murder conviction who also alleges that detectives ignored evidence that would have exonerated him. [3]

The Sacramento County CA sheriff’s department was ruled liable for $170,000 in damages in a lawsuit filed by a janitor who was mauled by a police dog when he was cleaning in a building the police were using for training exercises. [0]

A Broward County FL judge purportedly told deputies that they would have to shoot her before they would make her sit on the ground when they raided her sister’s home and held her relatives at gunpoint in a wrong address response to a burglary call. Apparently deputies believed they were burglars until a high ranking officer arrived and recognized the judge. [2]

An Osage Beach MO police officer is the subject of a lawsuit alleging he performed a needless leg sweep on man who was detained but never arrested or charged with any crime. [3]

An Atlanta GA police officer is accused of failing to identifying himself and using excessive force in an incident caught on video at an IHOP where he punched a woman after he ordered four women to leave while out of uniform. [3]

A Ft Lauderdale FL police report was apparently contradicted by the videotaped arrest of a female activist who was arrested during a congressman’s town hall meeting. While the officer claimed he arrested her for refusing to leave the video seems to show that she agreed to leave and was compliant but was arrested after demanding the officer take his hands off of her. [3]

A Montgomery County MD police officer has pled guilty to illegally using police databases to look up information in order to help her alleged drug dealing boyfriend. [0]

3 Philadelphia PA police officers have been indicted on federal charges over their alleged participation in an steroid distribution ring where the highest ranked officer is also accused of being the ringleader. [0]

2 Maricopa Co AZ chief deputies have retired just days before they were to be officially fired after an investigation into several different allegations, the results of which have not yet been released. [3]

The police chief of Wayne OK has been indicted on 12 felony charges including false accounting and embezzlement involving funds intended for victims of child abuse. [0]

A Los Angeles County CA sheriff’s captain has been relieved of duty along with one of her relatives who also works for the department. Officials are refusing to discuss what kind of allegations are involved in this case. [3]

The police chief of Poteet TX has admitted to texting photos of topless women to a female officer but insists that it was done inadvertently due to a typo. [0]

And finally, a Hernando County FL deputy is under investigation for an alleged drunk driving incident where two women followed him in their car while on the phone with 911. Apparently the officer thought the women were following him because they liked him so he ended up flirting with the women who called the cops on him. [0]

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.