Fairfax County Police Watch: 06/15/11

Bountiful City UT settles suit for undisclosed sum to man tasered 6-10 times on video in stop for crooked plates [3] http://bit.ly/iB5rnn

2 Los Angeles Co CA deputies investigated by FBI over claims by ACLU observer that she saw them beat limp detainee [3] http://lat.ms/kZDK7K

Lake County CA sheriff under investigation by DA on allegations he beat cuffed detainee on way to jail [2] http://bit.ly/k8vdp4

Middletown CT police & school sued by mom of teen tasered 5x for putting extra beef patty on his tray at lunch [0] http://bit.ly/jTSthP

Brentwood MD cop resigns after charged w/assault for stopping a family & threatening them while off duty & possibly drunk [0] http://bit.ly/kSMTrc

Texas DPS trooper investigated for allegedly pulling gun on 2 16yr-olds in off-duty road rage incident [0] http://bit.ly/muV1d3

Winkler Co TX sheriff convicted on 6counts for retaliating against 2 nurses who filed complaint against his Dr pal [0] http://bit.ly/mkYkH3

Mooresville IN cop sentenced to 108days jail in plea deal for lying about testing drugs that ended up being fake [0] http://bit.ly/kZXpzs

Laurel MD cop pleads to child porn charge, hid camera in girl’s closet & possessed explicit videos of children [0] http://bit.ly/mo9ZZ0

Illinois State Trooper sentenced to 60days after pleading guilty to watching child porn on his police car laptop [0] http://trib.in/kAbqUz

Sardis GA cop who was hired despite being fired from another dept for sexual misconduct has been fired again over sexual comments made to 2 young females at store [1] http://bit.ly/iGmd0M

Mobile AL cop accused of trying to beat light in crash that injured 5 while police insist he was responding to a call. Sadly, 2 of the people suffered serious brain injuries and that state’s laws limit what you can sue local governments for to $100k which won’t even come close to covering their bills, even if they are able to sue. [3] http://bit.ly/k7fE46

Washington DC police sgt arrested on theft charge alleging she scammed an 85yr-old woman she was assigned to help [0] http://bit.ly/iErqQ8

Ontario Provincial Police officer in Coburg ON charged w/bribery, breach of trust & obstruction [0] http://bit.ly/joB6IQ

Elkhart IN cop suspended 8days for failing to follow procedure & driving too fast during 2 police chases [0] http://bit.ly/m3KQef

West Carrollton OH cop sentenced to 1wk home detention for shoplifting from Walmart, resigned after arrest [0] http://bit.ly/lEzlou

Bernalillo Co NM deputy suspended & faces charges for harassing ex-girlfriend cop via text messages [0] http://bit.ly/iWPlAk

McLean Co IL deputy suspended 60days for using position to date woman he met on call & sexting her while on duty [0] http://bit.ly/jaAxX9

Saratoga Springs NY police chief suspended after admitting to sending explicit text messages to woman after she asked him to stop [1] http://bit.ly/iPou0A

Citronelle AL cop suspended while under investigation for unspecified allegations of misconduct [2] http://bit.ly/lOOjcl

Hernando Co FL deputy suspended 3days for using badge to get out of ticket, now subject of another investigation [0] http://bit.ly/loS8Gu

East Rochester NY cop charged w/misdemeanor DUI after crashing into van while off duty, injuring 3 teens [0] http://bit.ly/ld2BzP

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.