'Let me see in their position': Faith leaders attend Fairfax Police use-of-force workshop

by Justin Hinton

WASHINGTON (ABC7) — “The climate is constantly changing so we always have to have this conversation. We always have to be doing this so that we can stay ahead of things,” said Pastor Jeremiah Marshall of Gospel Outreach Community Center.

He said he was inspired to attend and learn from a police use of force training workshop held at Christ Church in Fairfax Station Friday after seeing the body cam footage of an officer using his stun gun on a resident and what ensued.

On Saturday, June 6, after a day of racial justice protests in D.C. following the death of George Floyd, the Fairfax County Police Department called a late press conference to release details surrounding the arrest of one of the department's own officers.

Body camera video showed the white officer, Tyler Timberlake, deploying his stun gun on a Black man, who was walking away from him at the time.

“Compiled with everything else, it was a heavy weight," Marshall said. "It was heavy weight, hence driving me to be here today to try and understand where they’re at and how I can be a part of the change that can happen within Fairfax County Police Department."

But he and other faith leaders didn’t come to just sit down and learn about the six-month academy, the 250 hours devoted to use of force training or the internal checks to make sure officers aren’t applying force too many times.

They also came for a simulation to see if they would use force on a given scenario.

“It kind of let me see in their position what they have to do and how they have to do it and how much time they have to do it in,” said Marshall.

These types of forums have been taking place in Fairfax County for quite some time.

The police chief says it’s how policies are developed.

“The policies we are explaining today with our community advocates was and is and will continue to be co-produced with our community,” Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. said. “Maybe there’s a gap in our policy that community members can identify so we can take that constructive criticism back and work with our community advocates to enhance what we do in Fairfax County.”

He says Fairfax County was ahead of the curve when it came to reviewing policy within the policy department.

Still not getting it. It's a hiring problem, FCPD hires low caliber people for the force.

Calls to 911 could be dispatched differently from the start.

By Ken Moore

Only 40% of Fairfax County Police officers are currently trained in crisis intervention techniques. “Never has this disparity been more clear to me personally than in the body camera footage of the recent incident in Gum Springs, where one officer clearly and responsibly worked to de-escalate and render assistance to a resident in mental distress, while another officer chose to escalate the situation to the point of violence — in my view without having made a meaningful effort to peacefully resolve the situation,” said Lee Supervisor Rodney Lusk in a Board Matter on Tuesday, July 14. “This is a disconnect that is not unique to Fairfax County, and one that other jurisdictions have succeeded in overcoming.”

Why hasn't this punk been checked for mental illness? Did you see what he did? It isn't normal behavior.

Fairfax Co. officer charged in stun gun assault ‘moving to Minneapolis’ when arrested

Neal Augenstein

A prosecutor told a judge Monday that when Fairfax County, Virginia, police officer Tyler Timberlake was arrested for assault, less than two days after using a stun gun on a man, he “was already in the process of moving to Minneapolis” — the city in which George Floyd, a Black man, died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for more than 8 minutes.

Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Frank told District Court Judge Susan Stoney that after the June 5 incident, Timberlake “didn’t turn in his body-worn camera at the end of his shift — he went home sick, and didn’t turn it in the next day.”

Timberlake, who is white, used a stun gun on the man, who was disoriented and did not appear combative, in the Mount Vernon section of Fairfax County. In announcing his arrest, police released body-camera video of the incident.

Asked to elaborate on the statements Frank made in court, or provide a more detailed timeline, Antonio Peronace, a spokesman for Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, declined.

Monday, prosecutors were granted permission to drop three misdemeanor counts of assault and battery against Timberlake, with the intention of seeking a grand jury indictment, so the officer would be tried in circuit court.

“We want to make sure the people of Fairfax County have the opportunity to be heard” as jury members, Frank said.

In district court, the judge hears testimony, sees evidence and issues a verdict.

Frank made his claims about Timberlake’s plans to move to Minneapolis, and not immediately turning in his body-worn camera, in response to statements from defense attorney Edward Nuttall that “high level prosecutors and the police department” went to extraordinary lengths to arrest the officer quickly in the midst of emotional protests surrounding the police-involved deaths of Floyd and other Black Americans.

Nuttall said prosecutors and police had scheduled a news conference before an arrest warrant was issued for Timberlake.

Prosecutors have not said what charges they will seek in an indictment. The Fairfax County grand jury next meets on Monday. Timberlake remains free on his own recognizance.

An attorney for Timberlake didn’t respond to a request for comment about Frank’s statements to the judge.

After Timberlake’s Monday hearing, the local Fraternal Order of Police announced it is calling for the resignation of police Chief Ed Roessler for his comments immediately following the officer’s arrest.

Big deal. I've been calling for his resignation for years. THE FCPD NEEDS OUTSIDE BLOOD.

Fraternal Order of Police calls for Fairfax County police chief’s resignation

Dick Uliano

The Fairfax County, Virginia, Fraternal Order of Police is calling for the resignation of police Chief Ed Roessler over his handling of an incident involving a white police officer who is accused of using a stun gun last month on a Black man who appeared disoriented and noncombative.

“As the President of the Fairfax Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 77 myself, my membership and officers of your department no longer have confidence in your ability to be the Chief of the Fairfax County Police Department and ask you respectively to resign your position immediately,” Brad Carruthers, president of the Fairfax Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 77, writes in a letter to the Roessler.

Officer Tyler Timberlake is facing three counts of assault and battery for stunning the man, who was rambling and pacing in the street on June 5. Timberlake and other officers on the scene were relieved of duty pending the investigation.

Prosecutors were granted permission Monday to drop misdemeanor charges and instead seek to secure an indictment against Timberlake, who used a stun gun on the man he mistakenly thought he recognized.

Immediately after using his stun gun, Timberlake is heard repeatedly addressing the man as “Anthony.” But the person Timberlake was on top of was not named Anthony.

The man was treated at a hospital and released.

In a statement to the community a few days after the incident, Roessler accused Timberlake of violating the department’s use-of-force policies.

The FOP, in its letter to Roessler, the board of supervisors, the county executive and deputy county executive of public safety, accused Roessler of failing to be “a fair and impartial leader.”

The group’s letter said Roessler “crossed the line from Chief of Police to that of a politician playing dress up.”

The letter charges that Roessler’s public statements “effectively ended the career and impugned the reputation of a Fairfax County Police Officer.”

The group said a survey of its members found that 99% said Roessler’s actions have worsened morale, and 98% support a formal request for Roessler to resign immediately.

In a statement issued by the Fairfax County Police Department Public Affairs Bureau, chief spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said, “Chief Roessler is focused and committed to leading the department.”

Guglielmi also said that “public integrity, transparency and ethical leadership will always be at the core of everything we do here.”