Fairfax County Police Watch: 04/05/12

The Fairfax County Police officer Walter R. Fasci/ Sean McGlone award for sober living. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality

Grayslake IL police chief charged w/DUI & armed while intoxicated following off-duty head-on crash with car [0] http://bit.ly/HJj4uQ

Carrollton MO cop charged w/possession of meth after opened bags of evidence found in car during traffic stop [0] http://bit.ly/HVhPY0

Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America. Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent DOJ office on Police Misconduct.

The Fairfax County Police Officer Jeffrey Hand Award for Creative Income Production. Fairfax County Police. Police Brutality

Jackson TN cop pleads guilty to conspiring to steal $1,200 from citizen while processing a crime scene [0] http://bit.ly/HJl7yQ

Latah Co ID sheriff’s lt charged w/felony misuse of public funds for allegedly skimming $56k over 5 years [0] http://bit.ly/HJiJs9

Berwyn IL cop sentenced to 47mo prison for taking part in burglaries on behalf of the mob, leaked info [0] http://bit.ly/HmTNAZ

Lincoln NE cop sentenced to 2-5yrs after pleading guilty to stealing thousands from union and Santa Cop charity [0] http://bit.ly/HbIiBA

Prince George’s Co MD cop arrested on 2 counts misconduct & theft for allegedly stealing from evidence [1] http://bit.ly/HUSKME

Fairfax County Police Officer Amanda Perry award for Safe Driving. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality

Woonsocket RI cop gets DUI charges dismissed after police waited a week after crash to charge him [3] http://bit.ly/HbMmTn

7 Sunrise FL cops disciplined after news article highlighted 800 cops caught excessively speeding in Florida [0] http://bit.ly/HbI5yg

This week’s candidates for the Brian Sonnenberg Peaceful Resolution to Conflict Center Award. Fairfax County Police. police brutality

North Canton OH cop gets probation/suspended sentence for firing gun during off-duty domestic dispute [0] http://bit.ly/HOwbKn

Palm Beach Co FL deputy arrested for harassing ex-girlfriend by posting harassing signs & posters at her job [0] http://bit.ly/HcPPjB

Sevier Co TN deputy convicted of agg assault for knocking neighbor off ATV & threatening him w/gun [0] http://bit.ly/HS97br

Yakima WA cop sentenced to 1yr jail in plea deal for harassment & violation of protection order by wife [0] http://bit.ly/HLIq7U

This Week’s Capt. Denise Hopson Screw it, it’s the public s money and not mine Award

Corona CA settles suit for $86k to man injured when yanked from car during stop for invalid license [0] http://bit.ly/HGohox

Fort Worth TX settles suit for $50k to man claiming cop taunted him after he was beaten & tasered [1] http://bit.ly/Hca02d

Fairfax County Police Officer Larry A. Jackson award for false arrest. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality

New York NY police sued for violating rights of 1000′s of private apt bldg residents with “Clean Halls” program [3] http://bit.ly/Hc0TgT

Lacey WA cop pleads guilty to lying under oath to judge in effort to obtain search warrant on drug suspect’s car [0] http://bit.ly/HJltpt

New York NY police face legal action after cop cuffed & detained Caribbean ambassador until US State Dep intervened [0] http://bit.ly/HQeew4

Batesville MS ordered to pay $53k judgment to family of teen arrested for curfew while with adults on Halloween [0] http://bit.ly/HiBbH6

RCMP sued claiming officers went outside bounds of warrant by seizing big ticket items & not returning them [3] http://bit.ly/H6WYiR

Chicago IL cops push for exception to wiretap law letting them record suspects while opposing right to record cops [5] http://trib.in/HiBnGk

Youngstown OH police sued by 2 women claiming cops filed false charges in retaliation for complaints & lawsuit [5] http://bit.ly/He9cuN

Fairfax County Police Sgt. Weiss Rasool award for Terrorism Against the People…yeah, the Fairfax cops actually hired a terrorist

Macon GA police sued by man who suffered facial fractures after pistol whipped by cop in false arrest [3] http://bit.ly/HiUuiO

Harvey IL police promise reforms after fed investigation finds 1/2 use of force cases were for “contempt of cop” [0] http://bit.ly/HJm22t

Austin TX police sued by Hispanic jogger injured when tasered 2x by cop who mistook him for a black suspect [2] http://bit.ly/HcdIJ7

New London CT cop fired for excessive force for leaving man paralyzed by shooting him inside crashed stolen truck [0] http://bit.ly/HS9CCp

Denver CO police commission continues long string of reducing & overturning disciplinary actions against bad cops [5] http://bit.ly/HLIRPG

Waterford NJ cop suspended and faces charges for alleging threatening to kill man who filed complaint against him [0] http://on.cpsj.com/HiAVrw

Ottawa ON cop suspended after charged with assault over unspecified off-duty incident [3] http://bit.ly/HmTXIR

Fairfax County Police Officer David Ziants award for kill somebody and the worst thing that happens to you is you get fired.

Rockledge FL police sued by mom of patient who died after tasered 6x & suffocated w/pillow case by cops at hospital [3] http://bit.ly/HcOt4Q

Gilroy CA police may be on hook for up to $1.25mil in jury award in excessive force suit over fatal shooting by cop [0] http://bit.ly/HJjIID

Portland OR ordered by arbitraitor to rehire cop fired for fatally shooting unarmed man in back as he surrendered [0] http://bit.ly/HfBstc

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.