Fairfax County Police Watch: Report released on Filer dog shooting

FILER -- The Filer Police Department released the formal investigation by the Nampa Police Department regarding an incident in Filer, in which an officer shot and killed a dog.

The city of Filer requested that the Nampa Police Department do an independent internal investigation into the situation.

We contacted the Filer Police Chief for reaction to the report, but he was not available.

RESULTS OF INVESTIGATION

In the 12 page report, Sgt. Tim Randall with the Nampa Police reviews in-car video from Officer Tarek Hassani's patrol car, and interviews those involved with the call on February 8th.

In the report, Randall says the officer's interest of safety could provide sound justification for shooting the dog, but adds, "the argument is less convincing given the fact that the officer had prior information that the dogs might be aggressive and his failure to develop or consider any realistic non-lethal plan for dealing with the dogs was not reasonable."

The report says at the time of the shooting officer Hassani feared for his safety, providing justification for shooting the dog.

But it also criticized the officer's actions during the incident.

In the report, Randall questions why Hassani didn't simply stay in his car, call the dogs owner, or call for back up.

It says Hassani stated he "did not consider that" saying it was his job to respond to the dogs at large call.

Randall also asked why Hassani didn't use a taser, a catch pole, or a baton, all of which the officer had that day.

Officer Hassani said he was "taught not to use a taser on a dog" and was concerned for his safety.

The report also mentions a previous incident where Officer Hassani was bitten by a dog.

DOG OWNER'S RESPONSE

Rick Clubb has admitted all along that his dogs were at large that day, and he also admits it was not the first time neighbors complained about his dogs.

However, Clubb maintains that his dogs never acted aggressively, and his 7-year-old black lab, Hooch, should not have been shot.

"That's all he was doing here was protecting his property, where he shot him at was right there and he died right there by the tree," said Clubb.

We showed Clubb the report on Tuesday, and he said he was disappointed, but not surprised.

"He didn't have to shoot him right in our neighborhood with kids running around, birthday party, that's just ridiculous, that's a trigger happy cop," said Clubb.

Clubb says he will keep pushing to get Officer Hassani fired, and is planning to file a lawsuit against the Filer Police Department.

"Oh yeah, most definitely disappointed, but we're not going to stop here, there's no way we will stop here," said Clubb.

WHAT'S NEXT

Filer Mayor Rick Dunn tells us Officer Hassani is still on paid administrative leave as the city council considers his future.

There will be a chance for the public to voice their opinion on this case to the Filer city council and Mayor at an open forum, Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall.

Mayor Dunn says each person will have two minutes to give their opinion on the case.

Dunn tells us the city council reviewed the report in an executive session Monday night, but wants to hear from the public as well.

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.