Fairfax County Police Watch: New oversight for Buena police force

Daniel J. Kov

BUENA — The borough this week hired a former state trooper as its first full-time public safety director as it seeks to broaden administrative oversight of its police department.

Daniel T. Caregnato, 47, took over the position immediately after the Borough Council approved his hire Monday night.

“I am excited and humbled to be in this position to serve the Buena community,” the longtime New Jersey State Police veteran told the council after he was sworn in. “I look forward to be working with each of you, and I will serve with courage and humility.”

The post previously was a part-time position filled by Councilman Joseph Santagata. He took on the role when the borough created it last year after eliminating the position of police chief.

Santagata deemed Caregnato fit for the position. “He’s definitely going to be an asset for the community,” the councilman said.

In explaining the shift from part time to full time, Mayor Joseph Baruffi pointed to several changes that necessitated the need for the expanded position. Those include the upcoming retirement of Lt. Lawrence A. Petrillo, and an expansion of the role’s responsibilities.

Baruffi cited a “pretty young” police department as a main reason why the borough sought outside applicants rather than promoting one of its own to the director post.

“We were looking for someone who had a strong public safety background and can hit the ground running,” he said.

Petrillo, who plans to retire in September, had been the top officer supervising the police department since 2012, after Chief David P. Sherma forfeited his position because he was caught illegally obtaining prescription medication.

In the newly defined role of public safety director, Caregnato will act as the director of police, where he will be responsible for the overall performance of the borough’s 24/7 police department.

In addition, the position now involves oversight of the borough’s Emergency Management Service, including authority for day-to-day operations.

Caregnato will receive a salary of $48,000 for the first year of his three-year contract, with a $1,000 increase in the subsequent years. He won’t be entitled to compensation time or overtime pay.

Baruffi spoke highly of Caregnato’s reputation and background.

“I know him very well,” said the mayor, who reminisced at one point about teaching Caregnato in seventh grade. “He comes highly qualified. He takes on responsibilities and tasks with the utmost desire to accomplish his goals.”

Baruffi added, “With his experience and his desire to achieve, I think he’s a perfect fit here in Buena.”

A lifelong Buena resident, Caregnato is a Buena Regional High School graduate who served 25 years with New Jersey State Police. His most recent title was commander of the Buena Vista Station. He also has coached youth sports in the borough.

“I’m big on community policing,” Caregnato said, “and I just want to continue that.”

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.