Fairfax County Police Watch: 11/08/13

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2 NOPD cops arrested for alleged fraud and theft

Two New Orleans Police officers allegedly lied on time sheets and stole cash intended for investigations.

"FBI Special Agents and officers in the New Orleans Police Department's Public Integrity Bureau arrested two NOPD Officers on charges of wire fraud," authorities said in a joint news release. "The officers arrested were Rafael Dobard and Quincy Jones."

Both officers allegedly claimed hours they did not work for private details and took cash set aside for confidential investigative purposes.

The FBI provided the following information:

Dobard, age 39, 4504 Croyden Avenue, New Orleans, has served as an NOPD officer for eight years, most recently assigned as a detective to NOPD's Fourth District Narcotics Unit. It is believed that while working security details at various locations, including the BW Cooper and Guste Housing Developments, Dobard submitted timesheets to NOPD and the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) with overlapping work periods, seeking payment from each entity for the same periods of time.

Jones, age 33, and a resident of 2921 Bennett Street, New Orleans, has served as an NOPD officer for 11 years, most recently assigned to the Fourth District Narcotics Unit. It is believed that Jones also submitted timesheets with overlapping work periods to the NOPD and HANO, seeking payment from each entity for the same periods of time.

In addition to payroll fraud charges, it is also believed that both police officers were stealing money intended for confidential investigative purposes.

"As I have stated previously, the NOPD has a strict zero tolerance policy for misconduct within the New Orleans Police Department," said NOPD Chief Ronal Serpas, in response to the arrests.

"The public should know that the work of the joint PIB/FBI task force is ongoing and we will continue to work diligently to ensure transparency, accountability, collaboration and integrity within the New Orleans Police Department."

Upon their arrest by federal authorities, the officers were immediately placed on emergency suspension by the police department. Dobard and Jones were remanded into federal custody and taken to the US Marshals to await their initial appearance in federal court.

Another New Orleans police officer, Jason Cross, was charged this past Friday, November 1, in federal court with possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. In a Bill of Information, Cross, approximately 35 years of age, and most recently assigned to the NOPD's 7th District, was charged with knowingly and intentionally attempting to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine hydrochloride. This investigation was also the result of the FBI/NOPD PIB Task Force.

Lawrence officer suspended after supervisor detects alcohol

LAWRENCE, Ind. - A veteran Lawrence police officer was suspended for two days without pay after tests revealed he had alcohol in his system while on the job.
Authorities said a supervisor smelled alcohol on Officer Gustavo Canas’ breath during a run early Thursday morning.
The supervisor brought Canas into the station for questioning and testing. Those tests revealed Canas had a blood-alcohol content of 0.02 percent.
Deputy Chief Curtis Bigsbee said that Canas was not drunk, but the alcohol in his system was "residual," possibly from the night before.
Bigsbee said the department has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to alcohol and drugs and the department took immediate action.
"We just want to let the public know we do take each and every incident seriously. That's why the officer took the appropriate action and that's why we have followed up with them," Bigsbee said.
Lawrence Common Council member Carl Barnett said he was surprised to hear what happened.
"My reaction was shock when I first heard it because generally our police department is good, and with the things happening in Indy with the Bisard case, we definitely don't want that here in Lawrence," Barnett said. "Hopefully, the chief through his accountability practice will have something done about this."
Canas patrols the early shift from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. His two-day suspension begins on Friday

Police officer suspended for allowing girlfriend to drive without license

NICEVILLE — A police officer was given a criminal citation and placed on administrative leave Wednesday morning after he allowed his girlfriend to drive to the police station to pick him up even though her driver license had been suspended.
Officer Michael Smith, 37, asked his girlfriend, 33-year-old Natalie Jarrett of Fort Walton Beach, to pick him up after his shift, Niceville Police Chief David Popwell said.
Smith’s supervisor knew Jarrett had a suspended driver license, Popwell said.
Jarrett arrived at the station just before 9 a.m. in Smith’s personal vehicle, according to police call logs.
Smith got into the vehicle before his supervisor stopped him and issued the citations, Popwell said.
Smith was placed on administrative leave until further notice. There will be an internal investigation, Popwell said.
“We hold police officers to a higher standard and he’s been relieved of his duty until his court date,” he said.

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.