Fairfax County Police Watch: 03/30/17

YOU CAN'T REGULATE

A PUNK ATTITUDE

Fairfax County Civilian Review Panel Sworn in

Inaugural meeting of the Civilian Review Panel

The nine members of the Civilian Review Panel marked with *: Gerarda Culipher, Deputy Clerk of the Circuit Court; Randy Sayles,* Oak Hill; Rhonda VanLowe,* Reston; Kathleen Davis-Siudut,* Springfield; Adrian Steel,* McLean, chairman of the panel; Sharon Bulova, chairman of the Board of Supervisors; Judge William Webster; Supervisor John Cook, chairman of Public Safety Committee; Jean Senseman,* Lorton; Douglas Kay,* Fairfax; Hollye Doane,* Oakton; Steve Descano,* Springfield; and Hansel Aguilar,* Fairfax. Photo by Mary Kimm.

Former director of the FBI and CIA, Judge William Webster addressed inaugural meeting of the Civilian Review Panel on Monday, March 20 about the importance of civilian oversight.

Judge William Webster and Adrian Steel, chairman of the inaugural Civilian Review Panel. Steel was special assistant to Webster at the FBI.

#The nine members of the Fairfax County Civilian Review Panel were sworn in at the panel’s inaugural meeting on Monday, March 20.

#Judge William Webster, former director of the FBI and CIA, spoke on the importance of civilian oversight of law enforcement. “Civilian oversight is important in a country where we want people to feel safe,” Webster said. He urged panel members to consider the promise he made when he joined the FBI: To do what the citizens expect in the way that the Constitution allows.

#The nine members appointed by the Board of Supervisors are: Hansel Aguilar, Fairfax; Kathleen Davis-Siudut, Springfield; Steve Descano, Springfield; Hollye Doane, Oakton; Douglas Kay, Fairfax; Randy Sayles, Oak Hill; Jean Senseman, Lorton; Adrian Steel, McLean, chairman; and Rhonda VanLowe, Reston. They were among more than 140 applicants for the volunteer positions.

#“This is historic,” said Sharon Bulova, chairman of the Board of Supervisors. “The creation of this panel and the creation of the independent auditor position were two of the primary recommendations of the Ad Hoc Commission.”

#Bulova appointed the 30-member Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission in October 2015 in the wake of public concern after the police shooting death of John Geer in August 2013. The commission, which included full participation of the Fairfax County Police Department, made 140 recommendations, most either already implemented or in process.

#FCPD Police Chief Edwin Roessler pledged his support to the panel on Monday, saying that it would help “build upon the trust the public gives us.”

#The Civilian Review Panel will act as an independent avenue for residents to submit complaints concerning allegations of abuse of authority or misconduct by a FCPD officer. The panel will have the authority to request and review completed Police Department internal administrative investigations regarding a civilian complaint against an officer. The panel may hold public meetings to review police administrative investigations and walk through with members of the community how the investigation was conducted, including findings of fact, evidence collected and witness statements.

#The Civilian Review Panel will not address use of force by police that results in serious injury or death; those will be monitored by the newly hired Police Auditor, Richard G. Schott.

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.