Fairfax County Police Watch: 10/09/11

Kids and Cops and Porn and abuse…..again….kinda makes you wonder, you know?

Aquia Harbour VA cop sentenced to 20 years in prison for producing child porn by filming sex acts with an unconscious 8-year-old boy. [0] http://t.co/gnpCifnh

South Ogden UT cop was sentenced from 5 years to life in prison for aggravated sexual abuse of a child under 14 and forcible sodomy. [0] http://t.co/1Z8zZDXO

Warrensburg IL cop originally charged with the sexual assault of a girl under 12 was sentenced to 10 years in prison on a reduced possession of child porn charge. [0] http://t.co/1fhZ2INo

Dallas TX police are being sued by the family of a boy who was 11 when he was accidentally grazed by cop’s bullet during the fatal officer-involved shooting death of an unarmed man at an apartment complex. [0] http://t.co/iGS6EB6I

Carrabassett Valley ME cop pleads guilty to 10 counts unlawful sexual contact with a child under 12 [0] http://t.co/U8AbM5rk

Paulding County GA deputy fired after arrested on child molestation & child enticement charges [0] http://t.co/mOw1zUiC

Tucumcari NM cop under investigation for allegedly sending nude pics to 16yr-old & having sex with her while on duty [1] http://bit.ly/r3zroe

Chandler AZ asst police chief investigated over verbal outburst against daughter’s high school teammate at game [0] http://t.co/CdppXUSJ

LaPorte Co IN cop arrested on federal possession of child pornography & evidence tampering charges [0] bit.ly/p1RQlW

Murder

Nashville TN cop was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted for 2nd degree murder in the shooting death of his wife. He claimed she shot herself. [0] http://t.co/ddNp0Qy1

Assault

3 Hackensack NJ cops were indicted, one for assaulting a man during arrest and the others for providing false information in an effort to cover it up. [0] http://t.co/v8uhNhqU

Bucks County PA sheriff’s sergeant was arrested on multiple charges for hitting a restrained suspect then perjuring himself when he filed false charges against the man in order to cover it up [0] http://t.co/3hnNbDBJ

New Jersey state trooper was suspended without pay for 6 months for pepperspraying a handcuffed suspect in the back of his cruiser then lying on his report about the incident. [0] http://t.co/J1fq7FVV

A Now-former Los Angeles County CA deputy is claiming that he quit after his supervisor forced him to beat a mentally ill detainee in order to “teach him a lesson”. [3] http://t.co/PabQI3v2

An Orlando FL police report is apparently contradicted by video in an incident where 2 cops broke a woman’s arm during a drunk and disorderly arrest at a theme park. [1] http://t.co/IPow2uje

Colorado Springs CO sued by man claiming jail video shows cop needlessly tasering him then lying on report [3] http://t.co/Xz1IFmRE

Nashville TN adds $30k to existing settlement to woman injured by cop during arrest, total now $57k [0] http://t.co/V2BlGKlg

Irondequoit NY cop arrested on assault charges for allegedly helping brother attack man inside bar while off-duty [0] http://t.co/cuLJg6tT

New York NY cop accused of threatening to arrest assaulted cabbie instead of taking report & arresting assailant [3] http://t.co/QU4Q20ar

Creepy Cop behavior

Newark NJ undercover cop apparently masturbated while fondling a female suspect while conducting a massage parlor sting operation. The chief is blaming their training, or, more specifically, that they weren’t trained not to do that… [0] http://t.co/tgzX4WVH

Los Angeles County CA sheriff’s sergeant with a long history of sexual misconduct complaints was convicted on sexual assault & false imprisonment charges involving a woman he raped while on duty. [0] http://t.co/5RFsASHc

RCMP mountie in Vancouver Island BC gets conditional discharge, cop reported he assaulted woman during traffic stop [0] bit.ly/mSdKBI

Gilberton PA police chief & mayor sued by councilman arrested & strip searched for v-mail profanity [0] bit.ly/q4m4A5

Lied in testimony

Atlanta GA civil service board is forcing that city to rehire 3 cops who were fired after a judge found that they lied in their testimony about a man’s arrest on a firearm charge. [0] http://t.co/lafxAkQj

Univ of South Carolina police officer arrested on misconduct in office charge, details sketchy so far [1] bit.ly/pfE55t

Drugs/ Drunk

St Louis County MO deputy was arrested on drug and drug paraphernalia charges after caught with heroin while in uniform [0] http://t.co/EDyiZKpS

Pontiac IL cop was arrested on drunk driving charges in Wisconsin after crashing his unmarked cruiser into a ditch [0] http://t.co/fIzt7JH4

Miami-Dade FL cop arrested on drunk driving charge after rear-ending another motorist while off-duty [0] http://t.co/qSfPLl7J

Perry UT cop under investigation for allegedly trying to bribe trooper on behalf of friend over DUI charge [0] bit.ly/nxvAXw

San Jacinto Co TX deputy arrested on possession of a controlled substance and fraud charges in neighboring county [0] http://t.co/U3ouamPW

Illegal sales of military grade weapons

A 3rd Lake Co IN deputy pleads guilty to charges related to the illegal sales of military grade fully automatic weapons over the internet [0] http://t.co/Lk9r0FjQ

Remember…..Cops hate cameras

Atlanta GA police sued by woman claiming her camera was illegally seized after she recorded cops kicking cuffed man [4] http://t.co/xgHpLlbK

Domestic violence

Niagara Falls NY police lt charged with criminal trespass & menacing over unspecified domestic incident [2] http://t.co/HdMdxANY

Hit and run

St Petersburg FL cop suspended 3 days w/o pay for failing to report hit & run accident involving an acquaintance [0] bit.ly/oCC8bV

Theft

Dallas TX police detective faces termination after investigation into allegedly fraudulent overtime reports [0] http://t.co/w32kY8gt

Two Fullerton (Calf) police officers have been criminally charged in the violent confrontation that left a homeless man dead, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas announced Wednesday.

Officer Manuel Ramos has been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the beating of 37-year-old Kelly Thomas, a homeless schizophrenic man. Officer Jay Cicinelli has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force.

Rackauckas said the department reviewed 151 witness statements, videos of the beating, medical reports and police statements.
The district attorney's office had been awaiting the coroner's determination on the cause of death before deciding whether to file charges.

Officers approached Kelly Thomas on July 5 at the bus depot in downtown Fullerton while responding to a report of someone trying to break into cars. According to witness accounts, Thomas ran when officers attempted to search his bag. Exactly what happened next is unclear, but witnesses said they saw multiple officers hitting Kelly and shooting him with a Taser while he was on the ground.
Officials from the district attorney's office have said they were awaiting toxicology and other test results from the coroner before making a decision on the case. That report was handed over to the district attorney's office Tuesday, but the findings were not made public.
Thomas, a 37-year-old homeless man with schizophrenia, was a regular presence in downtown Fullerton. He died five days after the confrontation, after being removed from life support.
Earlier this month, an attorney representing the Thomas family released hospital records that showed Thomas had tested negative for drugs and alcohol and that the immediate cause of death was "brain death" due to "head trauma" from the incident.
The hospital records released showed that he suffered brain injuries, a shattered nose, a smashed cheekbone, broken ribs and severe internal bleeding. Thomas also had been shocked with a stun gun "multiple" times, including in the left chest near the heart, the records showed.
Thomas' father, Ron, has been pushing the district attorney's office to file charges against the officers, and the case has sparked a furious reaction, including weekly protests outside the police station and a recall campaign against three City Council members.

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.