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.

Stop hiring punks and watch how quickly things change

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — For Lee District Supervisor Rodney Lusk, reviewing how Fairfax County dispatches public safety personnel seems like a good first step if you're looking to improve how police respond to calls for service.

"That's where everything starts," Lusk said, in an interview with Patch. "Most of the calls that aren't going to fire and rescue end up going to the police. And the question is, do the police need to get all of those calls, especially for those that have low-level substance abuse, low-level issues with mental health, where there's really no criminality involved? The person is just having an issue."

Lusk and Hunter Mill Supervisor Walter Alcorn submitted a board matter Tuesday calling for a review of the county's 9-1-1 call system. The idea behind the measure is to identify incidents in which police officers are not necessary, and where it would be better to dispatch unarmed medical, human services, and mental health professionals instead.

In his board matter, Lusk referenced other jurisdictions around the country that have established models where dispatchers routinely divert mental health and similar calls away from the police department to more appropriate responders. In particular, Lusk pointed to the CAHOOTS model employed by the City of Eugene, Oregon.

"It's been around for like 30 years and it's been extraordinarily successful," he said. "If you look at the numbers for it, you can see that they've been able to divert 20 percent of their police calls through this process. With that 20 percent allocation of calls that are going directly to this behavioral, mental health platform, you're only having like 1 percent of them needing [police] backup."

If Fairfax County adopted a program like CAHOOTS, it would not immediately see the same level of success, according to Lusk.

For one thing, the county does not have a level of staff it could dedicate right now to respond to those types of calls. Currently, if a police officer responds to a call that she determines to be a mental health or substance abuse situation, she could either bring the subject to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center or call in the Mobile Crisis Unit.

"We're going to probably have to work ourselves to be able to clearly triage and identify which cases are those low-level ones, and then send out those kind of behavioral, mental health folks and not have to have backups," Lusk said. "But there will be instances, I'm more than certain, where there will be a need for backup. And that's why we don't want to defund the police, because you still need to ensure the safety of those workers and the citizens, when something devolves and becomes much more serious and much more dangerous than it was originally anticipated."

Adopting a CAHOOTS-like program in Fairfax County would also free up officers from certain types of cases and allow them to focus on their core mission.

"If the police aren't dealing with these kind of issues, they can deal with other issues of criminality, other issues that are more of important to the community for public safety," Lusk said. "So to me, I think it allows them to do their best work and to be focused on the issues that are most pressing within the community."

In regards to deescalating violent situations, Lusk is in favor of all FCPD officers receiving Crisis Intervention Training — currently, only 40 percent of the department has received such training.

"Even with this new model, you just never know what circumstances they're going to be put in where you might think that this call that they get sent on is not a behavioral health call," Lusk said. "It might turn into one when they get there. ... I think that's the thing that we've done wrong. We've put them in the front when they probably should be in the back only as support."

Like other places around the country, the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police has proved to be a tipping point for Fairfax County when it came to police reform, according to Lusk.

"If you'd asked me right after George Floyd, I would have been like, 'I don't anticipate that we would have this happen in Fairfax County,'" he said.

But that all changed about a week after Floyd's death when a Fairfax County Police officer responded to a call in the Gum Springs neighborhood.

Body-worn camera footage showed Tyler Timberlake, an eight-year veteran of the force, kneeling on a man's back and tasing him in the neck. Tyler was subsequently charged with three counts of misdemeanor assault and battery.

At its June 9 meeting, the Board voted unanimously to approve a statement of support for those in the county calling for racial justice and to find funding to implement the next phase of the Fairfax County Police Department's body-worn camera program.

"I think there is a recognition that we will not have business as usual," Lusk said. "I also think that the body worn camera has changed this forever into the future."

In the interest of greater accountability, the Board has also pushed FCPD to be more open about the data it collects. The department recently issued arrest and traffic data demographics for 2019.

Lusk said the Public Safety Committee will be bringing in the Citizen Review Panel and the Independent Police Auditor to present their annual reports, as well as the University of Texas, which is conducting a use of force analysis study for the county. He's also planning a series of public information sessions, including one with representatives from the City of Eugene, Oregon, to talk about the CAHOOTS program.

"I think there's a lot of the interest from the Board members, and I think even the work that my committee, the Public Safety Committee, is doing, we have strong advocates in these communities," Lusk said. "They're very specific about what things they think should be changed. They articulate those recommendations extraordinarily well."

At Tuesday's board meeting, the supervisors unanimously approved Lusk and Alcorn's board matter. Now, county staff, including the Deputy County Executive for Public Safety and the Deputy County Executive for Human Services, will review the county's 9-1-1 dispatch and response system to deploy tried unarmed medical, mental health, and human services professionals to respond as needed. A status update must be shared with the board no later than Oct. 1.

'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.”

Data Proves Black People Treated Differently in Fairfax County

Arrests of Black people disproportional in every police district in the county.

Source: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/reports/arrest-data

By Ken Moore

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

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#Of all arrests made by police officers in the county, Black people are arrested 38.54 percent of the time. Black people are targets of police use of force 45.63 percent of the time in the county. Black people make up less than 10 percent of the population. Black people are arrested and the subject of police force disproportionately more.

#The data speaks for itself:

• #In the Fair Oaks Police District, Black people were arrested 43.79 percent of the time but make up 7.22 percent of the population.
• #In the Franconia Police District, Black people were arrested 41.65 percent of the time but make up 16.76 percent of the population.
• #In the Mason Police District, Black people were arrested 54.08 percent of the time but make up 10.8 percent of the population.
• #In the McLean Police District, Black people were arrested 43.34 percent of the time but make up 4.69 percent of the population.
• #In the Mount Vernon Police District, Black people were arrested 41.63 percent of the time but make up 16.84 percent of the population.
• #In the Reston Police District, Black people were arrested 33.04 percent of the time but make up 8.24 percent of the population.
• #In the Sully Police District, Black people were arrested 23.09 percent of the time but make up 7.3 percent of the population.
• #In the West Springfield Police District, Black people were arrested 25.54 percent of the time but make up 8.1 percent of the population.
• #Countywide, Black people are arrested 38.54 percent of the time although they make up 9.73 percent of the population.

#The Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission made explicit recommendations with regard to the public availability of such data, said Phillip A. Niedzielski-Eichner, who served on the ad hoc commission and is the Providence planning commissioner.

#“The Board of Supervisors and Police leadership agreed with these recommendations. Nearly five years after completion of the Ad Hoc Commission’s work, the data released and the Department’s requirement to manually generate these reports, indicates that, while progress is being made, it is slow in how it is generated and inadequate in its format,” he said.

#Latinx people weren't even accounted for in the latest round of data offered by police, mentioned only in traffic stops.

#See https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/reports/arrest-data

Its about dam time....the Fairfax County Police have enough money to run a small navy and an air corp and hire as many people as they life

Fairfax citizens’ group debates redirecting police funding

A citizens’ group devoted to battling racism in Fairfax County, Virginia, held a discussion about redirecting police funds to other agencies during an online forum Wednesday.

As racial justice protests have erupted following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and sparked growing calls to “defund the police,” the Fairfax Communities of Trust Committee sponsored an online forum which, among other topics, featured a discussion about the idea of redirecting funds away from police agencies and toward other government programs.

“We have to rethink what we call a crime and we have to re-imagine how we respond to the community on public health issues,” said Claire Castanaga, executive director of ACLU in Virginia.

“We can’t be sending the police when somebody has a mental health crisis … We shouldn’t be asking the police to address homelessness by arresting people for vagrancy and trespass. We shouldn’t be addressing substance abuse disorders by criminalizing our way out of it.”

Another panelist, a former parole officer in D.C., struck a cautious note against calls to defund the police, insisting that everyone should understand the need for policing.

“Of course we need to divert money from police departments, but I also think about the other side of the argument where people may say ‘who is going to come when you call 911 in the middle of the night?'” said Wiliam Ware IV, deputy chair of the Air Force Clemency and Parole Board.

Ware said some police funding should be reallocated to social service programs.

“When it comes to mental health crisis, different social service needs, I think you do have to invest in those social services within underserved communities, poor communities,” he said.

Other panelists said overhauling police funding could free up money to address the root causes of some problems that lead to contact with police, particularly mental health issues.

Do you know how many years this clown has been saying this and doing nothing at the same time...FIRE THIS GUY

Police Chief Talks New Policing Model, Body-Worn Cameras During Town Hall

Madeline Taylor

Last night’s town hall with Fairfax County’s police chief covered a variety of issues related to police reform, from progress on the demands made by Fairfax County NAACP to body-worn cameras. 

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn hosted the meeting last night to give locals a chance to provide input and ask questions. The conflict-free town hall mainly focused on Police Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. answering questions from audience members and explaining FCPD’s policies in detail.

Roessler highlighted the reforms made by FCPD since the shooting of John Geer, an unarmed Springfield man, in 2013. They have shifted towards a “co-production” method of policing, which emphasizes the importance of community engagement by bringing in advocates to review issues and discuss police report narratives.

A big goal of the police department is to increase diversion of tasks, including sending mental health or substance abuse cases away from the police. Lee District Supervisor Rodney Lusk, who is the chair of the county’s Public Safety Committee, also emphasized that the current range of issues diverted to the police is “too much to ask of them” and is in support of the Diversion First model.

The chief addressed terminology that the public wanted to be defined, including the FCPD’s definition of the use of force as “anything beyond a guide or escort, or above putting handcuffs on.” Roessler said that anything beyond that is subject to investigation. Additionally, he clarified that chokeholds are prohibited in Fairfax County.

Roessler also touched on the development of body-worn cameras. He said that the idea has been in the works since June 2015, and he wants to adopt the co-production model of community engagement in this development.

He says they are making “great progress” on this project and that the policies regarding the cameras are addressed online in an American University pilot program testing the same model of body camera policies. They plan to evaluate the body cameras again in-person in September to ensure the policies are exceeding community expectations.

Roessler discussed the evaluation and promotion process of officers, saying that evaluation begins upon application. He described a thorough path of training that officers go through before assignments. Additionally, they value community engagement when evaluating candidates for senior staff positions to ensure officers “embody the spirit of what the community needs for the future.”

“We want our officers to engage with the community members in a positive fashion, not just calls for service,” Roessler said in describing what they look for upon officer evaluation.

Other issues covered included the presence of the MS-13 gang, to which Roessler said they “will be relentless on gang activity in Fairfax County.”

When asked how the police department addresses domestic and sexual violence, Roessler said they use the Lethality Assessment Program — Maryland Model to assess the situation and connect victims with immediate help, such as counselors, attorneys or volunteers from the community.