Fairfax County Police Watch: 06/20/11

Granite City IL police are being sued on an excessive force claim in an incident that was caught on camera. However, while both sides insist that the video in question supports their case, the police filed a suit to prevent that video from getting into the hands of the press and released to the public. [5] http://bit.ly/kk1f7x

A Dubuque IA cop is the subject of a lawsuit by 3 people alleging excessive force over his use of his police dog in three different incidents. (the link is to a subscription site) [3] http://bit.ly/lMedHR

RCMP mounties in BC are being sued by 2 fellow mounties claiming that the officer beat their teen son while he was cuffed then taped his mouth shut while taunting him for an extended period of time. [3] http://bit.ly/l4JRNx

6 New York NY police are being sued alleging they profiled a retired cop’s 13yr-old son who was frisked & cuffed for 6hrs then taunted for crying, but never charged. The suit comes after the ex-cop and his wife were acquitted on allegations that the assaulted an officer when they went to pick their son up at the department and, instead, say they were attacked by police as well. [3] nydn.us/iFZdrR

The infamous Chicago IL ex-police lieutenant Jon Burge & other former city officials are being sued by one of Burge’s alleged torture victims… though not for the torture itself since the statute of limitations expired for those claims, but for covering up the torture since Burge was convicted for lying about the torture recently. [0] http://trib.in/mlQ167

A Saltville VA cop already subject of 2 false arrest lawsuits is now being sued by a man arrested for public intoxication in his own driveway & obstruction after he called the police to report a prowler he believed stole one of his guns from an outbuilding on his property. [3] http://bit.ly/iBK0WW

A Mount Vernon NY cop is being sued by a bouncer claiming the officer has continually threatened him whenever the officer has been drinking and that, on one occation, the officer smashed a badge into his head. [3] http://bit.ly/kuMfZi

Princeton NJ lost a $525k suit to an ex-cop claiming he was retaliated against when he filed a racial discrimination complaint. However, the police department insists the officer didn’t file the complaint until he found out he was under investigation on misconduct allegations. [0] http://bit.ly/itq54Q

Overland MO cop sentenced to 3yrs in plea to manslaughter for fatally pushing man down stairs then leaving [0] http://bit.ly/lFQ8ur

Plano TX cop sued by woman w/cerebral palsy claiming he used excessive force while dragging her out of car [3] http://bit.ly/iQYCF2

Harris Co TX precinct 4 constables accused of excessive force for unleashing K9 on man in response to false report [0] http://bit.ly/mjZCwq

Isabella Co MI settles suit for $65k to ex-cop claiming he was tasered while cuffed because stroke affected speech [0] http://bit.ly/jYVLvB

Los Angeles Co CA deputy to pay $6k of $586k jury award to apartment manager beaten by deputy while cuffed [3] http://bit.ly/mxhZ81

San Diego Co CA sued by 17yr-old boy claiming he was beaten, choked & falsely arrested by deputy, alleges coverup [4] http://bit.ly/knaOGF

College Park GA cops accused of excessive force when they tasered man w/mind of 2yr-old for not showing his hands [0] http://bit.ly/jopG1F

Redwood City CA cops found to have violated rights in $217k jury award to bodybuilder beaten during diabetic episode [0] bit.ly/iqI9sS

Toledo OH cop reprimanded for pulling gun on man while pulling him over for reckless driving while off duty [0] http://bit.ly/jGyqXY

Cathedral City CA cop gets probation for stripping & jumping into pool then sexually battering woman while on duty [0] http://bit.ly/ldL5tT

Anville PA police chief charged w/record tampering for submitting falsified time sheets to get taxpayer funding [0] http://bit.ly/kfeVBQ

Chicago IL cop sentenced to probation & $36k fine for swindling elderly man w/alzheimers out of $1mil [0] http://trib.in/jGfda0

Albuquerque NM cop who called self “human waste disposal” on MySpace probed for tweeting about pistol whippings [0] http://wapo.st/lGamYt

Bell CA police union under investigation for allegedly using officers in uniform in campaign ads against state law [0] http://lat.ms/lGffop

Fort Myers FL cop suspended 80hrs & must take random breath tests after showing up to work while intoxicated [0] http://bit.ly/lxamxv

Lakeland FL police school resource officer arrested on stalking charges including harassing calls from school [0] http://bit.ly/kHvovP

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.