Fairfax County Police Watch: “It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America

Cop fired under ruling
Albany police officer with a long off-duty history is terminatedALBANY — An Albany police officer with an extensive history of off-duty problems, including arrests for assault and driving while intoxicated, was fired Monday under a ruling from a state-appointed arbitrator.
Robert L. Schunk II, 40, had faced termination since 2010, when the department moved to fire the 14-year veteran following his arrest in two domestic violence incidents, including one in which he later admitted pointing a loaded gun at his ex-girlfriend.
The woman, Barbara Waters, testified against Schunk at his criminal trials in Albany and Halfmoon. Last year, Schunk was acquitted by a jury in the Albany case. He had been indicted for felony assault and testified that he pointed a loaded handgun at Waters, and his own head, during an argument in January 2009.
Last month, Waters testified at Schunk's trial in Halfmoon, in which a jury found him guilty of harassment and criminal mischief in an incident at Waters' residence in April 2010. Schunk kicked in a bathroom door at Waters' apartment and allegedly roughed her up. She told police the incident took place after Schunk poured a drink over her head at a nearby bar in a fit of jealousy.
"Any woman that feels like a police department has control over what they do, it's not true," Waters said Monday, after learning of the arbitrator's decision. "You can fight, and you can win."
Schunk joined the department in 1998 and had off-duty brushes with police dating back 10 years. His arrest history includes a 2005 conviction for driving while ability impaired after his vehicle slammed into two parked cars in Albany.
Two years ago, the department investigated allegations that Schunk served alcohol to on-duty officers who gathered at his residence in uniform for private parties. The internal probe did not result in disciplinary charges. Department leaders said the officers, who were photographed in uniform holding beer bottles, claimed they had been relieved of duty by a supervisor.
Schunk was represented in the arbitration by an attorney for Council 82, an umbrella union for the Albany Police Officers Union. A union spokesman was not available for comment Monday.
Police Chief Steven Krokoff was not available for comment. Deputy Chief Stephen Reilly said the department is pleased with the arbitrator's decision. Although the arbitrator, Sheila S. Cole, discredited much of Waters' testimony as inconsistent, Reilly said police found Waters' accounts of a long history of domestic violence to be "credible and consistent."
"We felt that she was truthful right from the beginning," the deputy chief said. "I'm pleased that Mr. Schunk's future activities will no longer have the ability to tarnish the reputation of the honorable women and men in the Albany Police Department."
The arbitrator concluded that Schunk lied about soliciting a prostitute in Colonie two years ago while on suspension. The encounter with the prostitute took place in August 2010 when Schunk picked the 23-year-old woman up on an Albany street. He said he was driving around "bored" and gave the woman a ride out of sympathy. She told detectives he paid her $60 for sex.
A Colonie police officer discovered the pair in Schunk's pickup truck in a Kmart parking lot at 2:30 a.m. An empty condom wrapper was found on the ground next to Schunk's driver's door. The officer said their clothes were disheveled and Schunk appeared to be on top of the woman, who was arrested for giving a fake name and carrying a hypodermic needle and bags with heroin residue. Schunk was not arrested.
Two months ago, Schunk was suspended on new administrative charges after Glenville police charged him with violating an order of protection for allegedly sending emails to Waters. That case is pending and was not part of Schunk's arbitration case.
Schunk is scheduled to be sentenced in Halfmoon Town Court next month for harassment and criminal mischief..
Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III said his office will ask a judge to sentence Schunk to up to a year in jail.
"I am thankful that the Albany (police) had sufficient evidence to remove him from their ranks in order to maintain their high standard of professionalism and ethics," Murphy said in a statement. "I applaud Chief Krokoff for his decisive action."
Officer's history of troubles:
February 1998: Robert L. Schunk hired as Albany police officer.
June 2002: Colonie police respond to domestic incident involving Schunk and a woman. Police said Schunk appeared intoxicated, was physically violent and broke a vase. No arrest.
April 2005: Schunk suspended, arrested for off-duty DWI. His vehicle slammed into two parked cars in Albany.
August 2005: Schunk pleads guilty to driving while ability impaired. Returns to duty.
June 2007: Saratoga County police respond to residence of Schunk's brother as two men fought. Both appeared intoxicated and Schunk allegedly "threatened to shoot his brother with a pistol." No arrest.
June 2009: Saratoga County deputies respond to domestic involving Schunk and then-girlfriend. Alleged victim showed deputies bruises on her body. No arrest.
April 2010: Violent domestic incident as Schunk arrested by Saratoga deputies for harassment, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. Suspended from duty.
May 2010: Schunk indicted by Albany County grand jury for felony assault, accused of grinding loaded pistol against girlfriend's head during alcohol-fueled incident at Schunk's Albany residence in January 2009.
August 2010: Albany police internal investigation of allegations Schunk solicited prostitute. No charges filed.
February 2011: Albany County jury acquits Schunk of felony assault.
February 2011: Albany police internal probe into allegations on-duty officers drank alcohol at Schunk's residence. No charges filed.
February 2012: Schunk arrested in Glenville for violation of order of protection from 2010 domestic incident in Halfmoon.
March 2012: Schunk convicted of harassment and criminal mischief in Halfmoon Town Court.
April 2012: Schunk fired by arbitrator with Public Employees Relations Board.
Sources: Court records, police reports.

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.