Fairfax County Police Watch: 09/23/11

Murder

New Brunswick NJ police and local prosecutors are refusing to release any info about a fatal officer-involved shooting of man who was allegedly unarmed & fleeing at the time. [4] bit.ly/p49tjn

Assault

Philadelphia PA settles lawsuits for $425k to 3 people alleging that a female cop with a history of issues beat and falsely arrested them. [0] bit.ly/paH4rX

London ON cop shown on the YouTube video tasering a teen in the face, apparently without any warning or prior commands, is now under investigation. The teens were fighting when the officer arrived but appear to break up as he approaches yet doesn’t appear to give any warning before discharging the taser. The boy has been hospitalized and nearby students are planning a protest. [3] http://www.torontosun.com/2011/09/23/taser-used-to-break-up-teen-brawl

Gary IN cop arrested on domestic battery charges for allegedly hitting girlfriend in face & throwing jar at her [0] bit.ly/naYOFY

Cops and Kids….a strange, strange relationship

New Braunfels TX police SWAT sniper was fired after indicted on 2 felony injury to a child charges in an unspecified incident. [1] bit.ly/pqkDVs

Richmond VA deputy was sentenced to 123 months in prison after pleading guilty to 8 counts possession of child porn. Seems an exceptionally long sentence compared to other similar cases we’ve covered so I’m wondering if there was more to this than simple possession. [0] bit.ly/qfMTe8

Obstruction

Spokane WA cop is the subject of a DOJ obstruction investigation over her testimony in a case of a mentally disabled man’s beating death by a cop who is facing trial over the incident. [0] bit.ly/pA0z2n

New York NY police internal affairs officers suspected of leaking info about ticket fixing probe to tip off the police union to the impending investigation [0] nyti.ms/o2MXSF

Creepy cop behavior

Renton WA police are accused of shredding documents related to the highly publicized and questionable cyberstalking warrant they filed over satire cartoons about the department. [5] bit.ly/qlEHI9

Weasel Cop behavior

On the heels of another court ruling that promised to finally open up police disciplinary records in Washington state, a Washington Appeals Court ruling appears to have given the Seattle police a way to keep misconduct records secret simply by keeping any investigations regarding those cases open indefinitely. [5] bit.ly/qb94K5

Southgate MI cop charged w/felony failure to stop at scene of accident resulting in serious bodily injury when he hit a motorcyclist while off duty [0] bit.ly/nXuiM2

Milton FL now former cop sentenced to probation over DUI incident & hit & run/false reporting incident [0] http://bit.ly/nzsfbI

Theft

Fairfield Co SC deputy charged w/misconduct in office & breach of trust on allegations he stole firearms & equipment from the department. [0] bit.ly/rjyMIr

Cops and Animals, another strange relationship

Smithfield UT cop charged with animal cruelty & evidence tampering for allegedly lying about death of dog he left in unshaded kennel [0] bit.ly/or0VNe

False arrest

Charles Town WV police sued for false arrest & lack of due process by 2 Haitian brothers who were detained w/o charges while one of them was allegedly chained to a chair and interrogated. [0] bit.ly/pnIZUG

Cops and women…you kind of get the impression they don’t have much need for women

Log Lane Village CO town marshal charged w/sexual assault on allegations he took advantage of drunk woman [0] bit.ly/qVs6bd

4 Romulus MI cops suspended for 30days w/o pay for unspecified conduct unbecoming involving undercover operation [3] bit.ly/nIcX1I

Selling guns

3 Lake Co IN deputies resigned ahead of indictments for selling military grade firearms over the internet [0] bit.ly/oBIbNE

Drugs/ Drunk

Murray Co OK deputy charged w/larceny of a controlled substance on allegations he stole painkillers from evidence [0] bit.ly/nRZO3k

Lewisburg TN cop suspended 24hrs w/o pay for conduct unbecoming after alleged drunken domestic altercation w/wife [0] bit.ly/qBNYg4

Vancouver BC cop sentenced to 3yrs prison after pleading guilty to dealing marijuana while on duty [0] bit.ly/nhAGRy

Fraud

2 Plantation FL now-former cops sentenced to 37 & 42mos for their roles in a mortgage fraud scheme [0] sunsent.nl/qdblEv

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.