Fairfax County Police Watch: Police Brutality Claims

PHILADELPHIA, PA, February 02, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- When a police officer uses unnecessary and excessive physical force, they are violating the rights of American citizens and abusing the power given to them by law. According to the United States Code, any person who is working under a state law enforcement body cannot violate the civil rights of citizens. If an officer engages in police brutality, they can be held liable for any injuries or losses the victim sustains.

Some cases of police brutality are widely known, but thousands more never receive media attention. Any time a law enforcement officer abuses his or her authority and causes a person undue suffering, it is affront to society as a whole. Police officers should enforce, not abuse the law. We trust them to protect us from aggressors - not to be aggressors themselves.

False Arrests

One of the most common abuses of police power is detaining or arresting people for no reason. Police are only allowed to detain a person on the grounds of "reasonable suspicion." In other words, an officer must have probable reason to suspect that the person has committed a crime. Unfortunately, some police officers will use their power to arrest people for their own reasons, ignoring the need for reasonable suspicion.

If you have been falsely arrested, you may have the right to seek compensation from the officer who wronged you. On many occasions, false arrests are accompanied by excessive force. If you were injured because of police brutality, an experienced civil rights attorney can help you pursue the justice and compensation you deserve.

Police Shootings

Police officers should only draw their weapon as a last resort. Strict conventions exist that govern exactly how and when police officers are allowed to use their weapons to stop a suspect. The majority of police officers understand and recognize the seriousness of using a firearm and refrain whenever possible. Others, however, are less careful.

Police shooting cases can be complex, as the laws that apply to these situations are often confusing, but a good police brutality attorney can help you pursue an effective claim.

Judging Police Brutality at a Glance

Here are some questions to ask yourself if a police officer uses force against you:

- Did you suffer an injury?

- Were you completely cooperating with the officer?

- Were you stopped for a good reason?

- Was the officer's use of force unprovoked?

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.