Do you need more proof the Fairfax County Police are out of control?

Since 2016 at least 30 fleeing drivers have died after police performed a PIT maneuver

Justin Battenfield died when a state trooper bumped his truck at 109 miles per hour, using what is known as a Precision Immobilization Technique, or PIT.

WASHINGTON — Just as the sun was rising on April 10 near Fort Smith, Arkansas, 34-year-old Justin Battenfield ran a red light in the black Dodge Ram pickup he had purchased a few days before.

For reasons that will never be known, Battenfield, who lived on Social Security payments from a mental disability, refused to stop when a U.S. Forest Service officer tried to pull him over.

It was a decision that cost him his life.

A high-speed chase ensued, and Battenfield began weaving in and out of traffic as an Arkansas State Police trooper picked up the pursuit, the trooper's dash cam video shows.

Ordered to get the truck stopped, the trooper deliberately bumped the truck at a speed of 109 miles per hour, using what is known as a Precision Immobilization Technique, or PIT.

What happened next was predictable, experts say. The truck flipped and rolled, and Battenfield was killed in the crash.

He was one of at least 30 people who died since 2016 when police performed the PIT maneuver to stop a fleeing vehicle, according to a year-long Washington Post investigation featured Sunday night on "NBC Nightly News."

Combing through news reports and public records, the Post also found hundreds of people who had been injured when police used the PIT. But the actual number of deaths and injuries is unknown, because there is no federal requirement that police departments keep track.

Eighteen of the deaths came after drivers were suspected of minor traffic violations, such as speeding, the Post found. Ten killed were passengers and four were bystanders.

Nearly half of those who died were minorities: nine Black, four Hispanic and one Native American.

When the technique is used successfully, an officer in pursuit uses the cruiser to push the fleeing car’s rear end sideways, sending it into a spin and ending the pursuit, according to the Post.

Experts consulted by the Post and NBC News say the PIT maneuver can be relatively safe and predictable at speeds under 35 miles per hour, but grows increasingly dangerous at higher speeds. Experts say it's also more dangerous when used against vehicles with higher centers of gravity such as SUVs, trucks and minivans, because they are more prone to flipping.

Maria Asucena Carbijal Lopez died in a 2017 police pursuit in North Carolina.Courtesy Brian Hochman

"If used properly, a PIT is a good, safe maneuver," Geoff Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina, said. "And if used improperly, at high speeds, in the wrong area, against the wrong vehicle, it's deadly."

An Arkansas State Police spokesman defended his agency's actions to local media after the crash.

"PIT has been used by the Arkansas State Police for no less than the past 18-20 years and continues to be used by state troopers, particularly if innocent lives are being threatened, as was the case involving the Fort Smith incident," spokesman Bill Sadler was quoted as saying at the time.

Sadler did not respond to requests for comment Friday by NBC News.

Linda Hamm, a close family friend who helped raise Justin Battenfield, wondered why the police weren't able to stop him using less violent means — or why they didn't just break off the pursuit and arrest him later.

A temporary license plate on the new truck was in Battenfield's name, she said.

"I don't believe it should have happened," she said. "They had plenty of opportunity to stop him before he got back in town. ... I'm very hurt over it. I just don't understand why they do that rate of speed."

The PIT maneuver was developed for police decades ago in Fairfax County, Virginia, police there say. Officers gave NBC News a demonstration on their track in Chantilly, near Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.

Lt. Jay Jackson, who supervises the training, said Fairfax County police perform the PIT about 13 times a year, and no one has been seriously hurt.

"It all comes down to training," he said. "Here in Fairfax County we do extensive training on the PIT maneuver. They have to do eight successful PITs to even become certified."

The county also has policies that prohibit high speed chases of minor offenders, which means the PIT likely would not be used on someone who ran a red light, Jackson said.

Some departments, including New York State police, have banned the PIT, while others, such as LAPD, forbid it at speeds over 35 miles an hour.

But at least 30 large police agencies allow the technique at any speed, The Washington Post found.

That was the policy of the North Carolina State Police in 2017, when a group of teenagers drove away from a state trooper trying to pull over their minivan.

The trooper bumped the vehicle at at one hundred miles an hour. It flipped and rolled and all four teens were thrown out

Two girls, ages 15 and 16, were killed.

Jonathan Thomas suffered a broken neck. The last thing he remembers before the crash is holding his girlfriend, Maria Lopez, who died.

"There's no justification in taking two lives and almost three," he said.

The trooper was not charged, police said. North Carolina instituted a new policy prohibiting the PIT over 55 miles per hour.

Ken Dilanian is a correspondent covering intelligence and national security for the NBC News Investigative Unit.

Isn't it awful that we need laws like this to protect US...the citizens from those cops who assume you won't throw back?

Virginia to consider reducing penalty for assaulting police

By DENISE LAVOIE Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia lawmakers plan to take up dozens of criminal justice reforms during a special legislative session this week, but one proposal in particular is expected to spark an intense battle: a push to change a law that allows police to charge people with felony assault even if the arresting officers are not seriously hurt.

A bill by Senate Democrats would downgrade the charge of assault and battery on a law enforcement officer from a felony to a misdemeanor.

The proposal is one of an array of reforms drafted in Virginia since the May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police prompted a nationwide protest movement. Lawmakers will also consider bills to ban the use of police chokeholds and no-knock warrants, enhance the ability of courts to expunge criminal records, and eliminate jury sentencing except when requested by defendants.

Sen. Scott Surovell, the chief sponsor of the assault and battery bill, said it would eliminate the current mandatory minimum sentence of six months in jail and change the law so the charge can only be brought as a felony if an officer has a visible physical injury. Surovell said he is also considering adding provisions requiring that another officer — not the arresting officer — investigate the circumstances and that a prosecutor approve the charge.

Critics of the current law say police overuse the charge, particularly in cases where they fear the person they arrested will claim police brutality.

“It is a charge that tends to arise whenever officers get into a tussle with someone,” Surovell said. Virginia’s legislature made the charge a felony in 1997, at a time when states around the country and Congress were passing “tough on crime” laws. The enhanced penalty for assaulting law enforcement officers also applies to judges, magistrates, corrections officers, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel.

Marie Dantio, of Alexandria, was arrested in 2013 when she went to a church in the middle of the night to try to see a priest. Dantio, who has mental health issues and was homeless at the time, said she did not immediately respond to Fairfax County police officers who responded to a trespassing call.

Dantio said the officers pushed her to the ground. One officer alleged Dantio injured her hand. Dantio said she spent two months in jail and eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in exchange for dropping the felony assault charge. She said she lost her job as a nurse’s aide because of her arrest.

“I feel very sad,” Dantio said. “I know I didn’t do it.”

Lt. Erica Webb, a spokeswoman for Fairfax County police, declined to comment on Dantio’s claims or the extent of the officer’s injury.

“While taking Ms. Dantio into custody, she assaulted an officer, causing an injury,” Webb wrote in an email.

States around the country have a patchwork of laws covering assaults on law enforcement officers. Some states allow the charge to be brought as both a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the circumstances, while other states don’t have a separate law, but allow for enhanced penalties for assaults on police, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The proposal to downgrade the charge in Virginia is expected to face fierce opposition from police and Republican lawmakers.

Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, said the nationwide protests since Floyd’s killing have shown “unprecedented levels″ of anger toward police.

“We should be doing more to protect officers instead of sending a message that assaulting them is not a serious offense,” Schrad said.

Republican Minority Leader Sen. Tommy Norment said he finds it “unfathomable” that Democrats are calling for reduced penalties, given the repeated violent clashes between police and demonstrators during recent protests in Richmond.

“Very candidly, for those who are advocating it — particularly in the current lawless atmosphere — I wonder what they have been smoking,” he said.

Norment is sponsoring a bill that would increase the mandatory minimum sentence of six months to a year in jail. For assaults on police during a state of emergency, the mandatory minimum would jump to two years.

Stephen Hill was charged by Alexandria police last year as he sat outside a grocery store drinking wine. Hill, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, said he was intoxicated at the time and struggling with substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Hill said he was moving slowly, intending to follow a police command to leave, when an officer grabbed his arm. He had a broken collarbone, but was not wearing his sling. He said he winced in pain and struggled as the officers handcuffed him behind his back.

Hill said he briefly grabbed onto the officer’s duty belt to stabilize himself. The officer then smashed his face against the side of the patrol car, breaking his nose, he said.

“I had no intention whatsoever to do anything bad,” Hill said

A spokesman for the Alexandria Police Department declined to immediately comment on Hill’s account.

Hill said he agreed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct because he faced a minimum of six months in jail on the felony assault charge.

“Once the offer was presented, I had no business risking the rest of my life with a felony on my record,” he said.

Calls for Fairfax Police Chief to resign, complaints and police reform being discussed

by Timothy Barber

Fairfax County, VA (ABC7) — Fairfax County’s Public Safety Committee met Tuesday afternoon to talk about police complaints and a study into the department’s use of force.

Presentation were made by the leaders of the Police Civilian Review Panel and Independent Police Auditor Richard Schott.

Professors from the University of Texas at San Antonio also made a presentation about a study they are doing on the agency’s use of force data. The study is looking for potential reasons or causes for racial disparities.

It is expected to be completed with recommendations in early 2021.

The Police Civilian Review Panel processed 29 complaints last year, with two complaints resulting in changes.

So far, the panel has received 18 complaints this year.

The Independent Police Auditor reviewed 22 cases last year.

Last month, Fairfax County Officer Tyler Timberlake was caught on body camera firing a stun gun multiple times at an unarmed Black man who was having some sort of episode in the middle of a street.

Yesterday, Timberlake was indicted on three counts of assault and battery.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano released the following in a statement:

“Today the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office successfully indicted Tyler Timberlake on three counts of assault and battery. This means that we can now look ahead to a jury trial that will give our community an opportunity to weigh in on this important case. I believe the community’s involvement in deciding this matter is essential and is why we pursued and obtained today’s grand jury indictments.”

Police Chief Ed Roessler released the body camera video after the incident and condemned the officer’s actions— a move that sparked calls for his resignation by the local police union.

Brad Carruthers, President of Fairfax Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 77 said in part; “I would like to convey just how disappointed and disheartened we are with your recent statements and actions. It has become abundantly clear that your political agenda trumps your obligation to being a fair and impartial leader. When you publicly excoriate an officer under your command, characterizing their actions as "disgusting" without even a nascent investigation, you have crossed the line from Chief of Police to that of politician playing dress up.”

In Virginia, records detailing police misconduct and use of force are effectively secret

•           By NED OLIVER / Virginia Mercury

 The white state trooper leaned into the Black driver’s car. “You are going to get your ass whooped,” he said before pulling the man from the car.

Virginia State Police Superintendent Gary Settle offered a swift condemnation of the behavior when video of the incident in Fairfax County was released earlier this month, promising a criminal investigation.

But otherwise, the state police department has refused to release details about the trooper, Charles Hewitt, seen in the footage of the 2019 arrest, declining to say whether he has faced other complaints in the past or to provide reports detailing them.

In many states, such information would be a matter of public record, including Minnesota, where Minneapolis police quickly disclosed that the officer filmed kneeling on George Floyd’s neck had been the subject of 18 prior complaints, two of which resulted in discipline.

Virginia, however, is one of 23 states in which records of police misconduct are effectively confidential, according to a nationwide review by WNYC.

Under Virginia public records laws, police agencies can choose to release records detailing complaints. But in practice, they almost never do. Even prosecutors have said they struggle to obtain personnel records from departments when officers face investigations or allegations of misconduct.

It’s not just police misbehavior that Virginia law shields from public view. Basic information about how officers use force on a day-to-day basis is hard to come by in the state. Only 15 percent of the state’s law enforcement agencies participate in the FBI’s voluntary use-of-force reporting program. And in a survey of the state’s 10 largest cities and counties, only one police department provided use-of-force reports requested by the Virginia Mercury under state open records laws.

Facing questions last week from lawmakers about how troopers are held accountable following complaints, Settle detailed a multi-layered internal review process — variations of which are employed in police departments around the state.

But some lawmakers wondered how those measures square with videos they see of officers brazenly using excessive force or otherwise violating department standards, most recently in the case of Trooper Hewitt.

“Some of the officers look so confident in wrongdoing, it’s as though they know that there will be no repercussions,” Del. Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, told Settle. “It looks like the policy and procedure is enough to get rid of folks like that, but nobody does anything about it. … It looks like no one is enforcing it.”

‘Watch the show folks’

In addition to threatening an “ass whooping,” Hewitt is seen describing himself as “a f—ing specimen,” turning to the camera Derrick Thompson was using to film the interaction and saying, “Watch the show, folks.” He then forcefully pulled Thompson, who had been pulled over for an expired inspection sticker, from the car. Officers said they smelled marijuana in the car but found none.

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller issued a blanket denial when asked for information about or copies of complaints Hewitt has faced in the past. Geller cited three exemptions in Virginia’s public records laws that she said allowed them to withhold information about Hewitt, saying the department considers them investigative files, personnel records and records of background investigations.

“The department has considered your request,” she wrote, “and opted to exercise its statutory discretion … not to release the documents.”

The decision is not exactly surprising. Police in Virginia rarely choose to release such information. Sometimes, information about police misconduct stays under wraps even when prosecutors pursue criminal charges against officers.

This month, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Collette McEachin acknowledged that her office and the police department had not been publicly announcing when grand juries handed down indictments for criminal misconduct against officers.

She said that would change going forward, but then refused to provide the name of a city police officer who was recently indicted and is scheduled to be tried next month, meaning for the public to find out about the case, they would have to cross-reference hundreds of court records with a roster of the local police department’s more than 700 officers — a list of names that is not readily available.

“You’re welcome to find it,” McEachin told reporters. “The officer's name is not hidden, it’s on the public indictment. … Literally, it’s in this courthouse.”

In response to questions from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Richmond Police Department subsequently identified the officer as Lance Falkena, who is charged with misdemeanor assault and battery.

In other jurisdictions, some commonwealth’s attorneys have lamented that not even they can get records of police misconduct from their local departments. Members of the newly formed Progressive Prosecutors for Justice are backing legislation that would grant them unrestricted access to police reports and disciplinary records.

“One of the things we do not get access to is personnel issues such as complaints for use of force or integrity issues,” said Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell. “As the chief law enforcement officer, we want to be preventative instead of being in a position where we have to respond only after something bad has happened to our communities.”

Use-of-force data often shielded

Residents in some localities have pushed for more transparency not just in misconduct complaints, but how police are using force on a daily basis.

In Norfolk last month, protesters staged a six-day sit-in outside City Hall to demand the city begin releasing reports detailing incidents in which officers shoot, tase, wrestle or otherwise lay hands on someone in the line of duty.