Fairfax County Police Watch: The national issue of mentally unstable cops

Arizona State University police officer resigns after caught on video slamming professor to the ground for jaywalking

ASU Officer Stewart Ferrin, 25, quit Monday after an investigation found he was out of line when he arrested English professor Ersula Ore in May. Ferrin was caught throwing Ore to the ground in a dashcam video that went viral.

BY Rachelle Blidner /

Officer Stewart Ferrin, 25, resigned after a video of his arrest of ASU assistant professor Ersula Ore went viral and drew national attention. Ore and Ferrin struggled during Ore’s arrest. ASU English professor Ersula Ore was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a university police officer after the two got into a confrontation when the professor was walking down the middle of a Tempe street, according to court documents.

Officer Stewart Ferrin, 25, resigned after a video of his arrest of ASU assistant professor Ersula Ore went viral and drew national attention..

Ore and Ferrin struggled during Ore’s arrest..

An Arizona State University English professor,Ersula Ore, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a university police officer after the two got into a confrontation when the professor was walking down the middle of a Tempe street, according to court documents..

.EnlargeSupport Officer Stewart Ferrin/gofundmeOfficer Stewart Ferrin, 25, resigned after a video of his arrest of ASU assistant professor Ersula Ore went viral and drew national attention.

An Arizona State University police officer quit after a video of him slamming a professor to the ground for jaywalking went viral and drew national attention.

Officer Stewart Ferrin, 25, resigned Monday after an internal investigation found he was wrong to use so much force against ASU English professor Ersula Ore in May, according to the Arizona Republic.

Although the university initially stood behind Ferrin, ASU notified him of its intent to fire him after the investigation concluded in January, records show. Ferrin appealed the decision after seven months of administrative leave. He resigned before he could be fired.

"The lack of support, cooperation, and downright bias, coupled with an agenda to ruin my career, has become unbearable and I will not subject my family to this any longer," he said in a letter to the university.

Attorney Mel McDonald said Ferrin was sick of fighting and spending money when he didn't "want to go back there."

University police planned to fire him because he violated numerous policies when he arrested Ore, ASU Police Chief Michael Thompson said.

The incident began when Ore walked down the middle of a Tempe street to avoid construction on the sidewalk, according to the review. Ferrin stopped her and asked for ID. She refused. He tried to handcuff her but she struggled. He threw her to the pavement. When she stood up again, she kicked him in the shin. The encounter was caught on his dashcam.

Ore was charged with resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer and refusing to provide identification.

Ersula Ore filed a $2 million legal claim against Ferrin for excessive force in November.Maricopa County Sheriff’s OfficeErsula Ore filed a $2 million legal claim against Ferrin for excessive force in November.

The encounter drew nationwide outrage, with critics calling Ferrin's actions against the black professor racist. Ferrin claimed race played no role in how he acted.

Ore filed a $2 million legal claim against Ferrin for excessive force, false arrest and rights violations in November, opening the way for a lawsuit.

Ferrin did not have reason to arrest her in the first place because she yielded to traffic and was not required to produce ID, Thompson said.

His "rigid, power-based approach to law enforcement and unwillingness to exercise discretion and sound judgment culminated in you arresting Dr. Ore without a lawful basis," Thompson wrote in a letter. "In doing so, your actions brought discredit to yourself and ASUPD."

Ferrin also misbehaved in other encounters with ASU residents over his four years with the department, Thompson said.

ASU researcher Joseph Reinhardt filed a complaint against Ferrin after the officer grabbed him for crossing the street without following Ferrin's instructions, according to an independent review by Investigative Research Inc.

Ferrin spent "an inordinate amount of time on traffic enforcement" and wrote tickets after supervisors instructed him to issue more warnings, according to the report.

Back in the police academy, he was reprimanded for untruthfulness, insubordination and violating codes, the Republic reported.

"This review was never about a single incident or a single issue," ASU said in a statement Monday. "Law enforcement officers in any jurisdiction are given the tremendous responsibility of helping to keep the community safe. They also are expected to exercise good judgment in the performance of their duties and, when given direction after missteps, are expected to follow that guidance."

Ferrin disputes the university's claims of misconduct and said he "positively impacted many lives" through his job.

"There's nothing in my file that would show I'm bad in any way, shape or form," he told the Republic.

Civil rights activist Rev. Jarret Maupin said he was surprised by Ferrin's resignation and wished he had stayed on the force because he and Ore both acted imperfectly.

"I truly feel that after meeting with civil rights advocates, clergy and dozens of black women, he understands what he did wrong and what he did right," he said in a statement obtained by AZFamily.

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.