Judge to throw out Fairfax Co. conviction of DC firefighter after claims of officer bias

A Virginia circuit court judge will throw out the 2019 conviction of a Black D.C. firefighter from prison, agreeing with claims by the firefighter’s lawyer and Fairfax County’s top prosecutor that the arresting officer lied about the traffic stop that led to his arrest and was racially biased.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano filed a motion in support of defendant Elon Wilson’s petition to vacate judgment and release Wilson from prison. Descano said the arresting Fairfax County police officer lied about the reason why he stopped Wilson’s car and had a history of racially-motivated traffic stops.

Judge Daniel Ortiz on Friday agreed, saying that he wants Wilson released within a few days, since his “liberty is at stake.” And Descano said he won’t stop there; he said he has dismissed all pending cases attributed to former Fairfax County Officer Jonathan Freitag, and is seeking to vacate more than 400 cases in which Freitag was the arresting officer.

“I appreciate the judge’s ruling in our favor today,” said Wilson’s lawyer, Marvin Miller, outside the courthouse. He credited the police and Descano with making Wilson’s release possible.

“We couldn’t have gotten here without the Fairfax County Police Department doing a really good job with their investigation, not shoveling it under the rug, and dealing with it fairly,” Miller said, adding, “When prosecutors and police work together with defense lawyers, sometimes you get the truth. It’s a really good situation to show that the system can and does work.”

Descano described Wilson as “a young D.C. firefighter who had no criminal record and an infant son” who “was pulled over in an improper stop, and the full weight of the state came down to unjustly prosecute him.”

The commonwealth’s attorney added that Wilson “was the victim of a culture in this criminal justice system that prioritized conviction over justice — finality over justice. Myself and my staff have been working to change that culture since we took office.”

“The officer involved has a long history of improper and unjust stops with a racially disparate impact,” Descano said, and when his office got the information about the investigation into Freitag, they moved.

“Every night I went to bed thinking about [Wilson] and his family, and how we could reunite them, and how we could make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

In a statement Friday afternoon, Descano said, “On behalf of the system that failed them, I want to also apologize to Mr. Wilson and his family.”

The traffic stop

Wilson entered an Alford plea on April 17, 2019, and was found guilty of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and possession of a firearm while in possession of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to serve three years in prison. (In an Alford plea, the defendant maintains they are innocent, but acknowledges that the evidence against him or her would likely convince a judge or jury to convict them.)

Descano emphasized that no jury found Wilson guilty, and that he was being threatened with charges that carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years. Under the “mixed-up logic of the state … it actually makes sense to take that hit,” Descano said Friday.

After receiving several complaints, an internal affairs investigation by the Fairfax County police found the arresting officer had been “untruthful” in describing why he initially stopped Wilson’s vehicle.

To make matters worse, Descano said in his motion, the former Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office delayed disclosing the officer’s misconduct to the defense until after Wilson had been transferred from the local jail to prison.

Miller and Descano appeared Friday morning in a Fairfax County courtroom to ask the judge to immediately release Wilson from Nottoway Work Center. Wilson is being held in the low-security facility in Burkeville, 150 miles southwest of the courtroom.

Freitag, the officer who arrested Wilson, was never charged with any crime. He resigned in the spring of 2020 from the Fairfax County Police Department, according to police communications director Anthony Guglielmi.

In Freitag’s arrest report, the officer said he stopped Wilson’s vehicle “because it weaved over the solid yellow line one time and had windows tinted darker than the legally permissible limit,” according to Descano.

The investigation

A Fairfax County Police Department Internal Affairs Bureau investigation, in which police randomly selected 40 of nearly 1,400 traffic stops Freitag conducted, found “the basis used by the officer to justify the stop, as memorialized in the police report, was untruthful.”

According to Descano, during the internal review, Freitag admitted Wilson’s vehicle never crossed the solid yellow line, and he never tested the tint on WIlson’s window.

“The Officer further admitted that Defendant, who is African American, was seen leaving a recording studio the Officer was watching and that is why the Officer chose to stop him,” according to Descano’s motion.

Descano said according to the department’s internal investigation: “The Officer admitted to a third party to engaging in racial profiling in determining which motorists to stop and the evidence corroborated this admission.”

Several people accused the officer of planting drugs, and “threatened people with the authority vested in him as a law enforcement officer in an improper manner,” according to Descano.

While conducting its own criminal investigation — which resulted in no charges against the officer — Descano’s office asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to review the circumstances behind traffic stops conducted by Freitag.

Descano said despite Freitag’s admission to falsifying information in police records, the former prosecutor’s office was slow to notify Wilson’s attorney that his client’s conviction may have been based on false testimony.

“This is significant because while Defendant was in local custody, this Court had the legal authority to modify the jail sentence and release Defendant,” wrote Descano.

The former prosecutor

Descano’s motion avoided mentioning the name of the former Commonwealth’s Attorney. Raymond Morrogh, who held that position at the time, was not immediately available for comment about Descano’s allegations.

The commonwealth’s attorney didn’t criticize Morrogh by name after the court appearance either, instead blaming “the culture of the system [that] has been allowed to manifest over 50-plus years.” Prosecutors, Descano said, have abdicated their responsibility to serve as a check on what the police are telling them.

“Myself and my staff have been working to change that culture since we took office,” Descano said. “[We] take our role as an independent check of the police and the other actors in the criminal justice system seriously.”

Freitag, in an earlier interview with The Washington Post, said “I was cleared of everything.” He added: “I resigned on my own terms. I didn’t want to work with the police department anymore.”

Policing Through Change: Officers leaving the job fear prosecution, not reforms

 

Policing Through Change: Officers leaving the job fear prosecution, not reforms

 

Megan Cloherty | @ClohertyWTOP

 

Despite a largely peaceful Inauguration Day, police officers remain anxious following the attack on the U.S. Capitol, where rioters targeted officers. Threats to their safety are just the latest concern in what has been a tumultuous year in policing.

 

Three of the four officers interviewed for this series said they wouldn’t recommend being a police officer, mostly due to the fear they have of being prosecuted for what happens on the job.

 

Officers said that while part of the career they chose requires them to willingly risk their personal safety, they had felt a measure of protection in the support they got from their department and elected leaders.

 

That support has now abated, they agreed: The loss of administrative backing, coupled with what they perceive to be an increased risk of prosecution, has some officers questioning whether the risk they assume is too great.

 

“A lot of officers who are eligible for retirement are just leaving. That’s 100% happening,” one officer from a Maryland police department said.

 

In Fairfax County, an officer with less than a decade with the department said he knows of colleagues with only a few years of experience who are transferring to other roles so as not to lose their time earned: “They’re kind of like: ‘I have nothing invested in this to this point. I’m going to get out while I can and start something else that’s easier.’ They don’t want to risk it.”

 

 

Some are transferring their skills to become county firefighters. The last fire academy class “was made up mostly of former police who were just doing a lateral over there,” the officer said.

 

“We have no support,” said an officer with more than a decade of experience who wanted to remain anonymous. “We are more in fear of ourselves and our department and prosecution than we are of the job, [of] a bad guy coming up and shooting or hurting us.”

 

For example, he said, he thought twice during a recent domestic violence call about putting his arm up to stop a woman from walking toward him out of fear he could be charged with assault.

 

“It’s just too risky … because we’re being prosecuted left and right for doing our jobs. It’s just risk versus reward. It’s high risk and like no reward,” the officer said.

 

He was so fearful of retaliation he asked not only his name but the name of the department he works for be withheld.

 

Area officers facing charges

In Anne Arundel County, two officers were prosecuted in 2020. Only one of them, Jacob Miskill, was charged with crimes while he was working; he was accused of stealing firearms from a resident’s home. He’s facing felony burglary, theft and misconduct in office charges.

 

In Fairfax County, officer Tyler Timberlake was indicted on three counts of misdemeanor assault and battery for his treatment of a man in custody. WTOP has reported Timberlake plans to sue the department, chief and prosecutor over the charges.

 

Six Prince George’s County police officers were indicted or charged with crimes in 2020, according to the department, and two of them involved the use of force: Pvt. Bryant Strong for assault and Cpl. Michael Owen for murder. (Also charged were Cpl. Tristan Thigpen for child sex abuse, Cpl. Luis Aponte for a theft scheme, Cpl. Brian Newcomer for attempted rape, and Cpl. Ivan Mendez for misconduct in office.)

 

‘They don’t want to risk it’

Meanwhile, police reforms are going into effect in Virginia and will be taken up by lawmakers in Maryland during the current legislative session.

 

Virginia lawmakers finalized the sweeping criminal justice reform package during a 12-week special session last year, while lawmakers in Maryland are set this year to consider a working group’s approved recommendations.

 

In D.C., Council members made more immediate changes to policing policies through an emergency order last summer.

 

The reforms in Virginia, which go into effect in March, include a ban on no-knock warrants, the establishment of a statewide code of conduct for police, and a limit on the use of neck restraints.

 

It’s not the reforms that have Fairfax County police officers nervous, the officer from that county said: “I can’t think of a circumstance where you’d be justified in choking someone, basically; that’s not what you’re taught.”

 

Rather, it’s a perceived lack of support from their department and county leaders — and the possibility of being prosecuted — that is raising their anxiety.

 

“Nobody knows right now, because of the situation with our chief, what’s going to happen if you fight with somebody and there’s a bad outcome. They pull a knife and you pull a gun — are you going to be charged with a crime? Are you going to end up in handcuffs?” he said.

 

These questions linger, he added, due to outgoing Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler’s decision to publicly support charging Officer Tyler Timberlake for using a stun gun on an unarmed Black man. Roessler called the officer’s use of force “unacceptable and criminal.”

 

Roessler is retiring next month, but the officer said his colleagues’ attitudes won’t change as long as Steve Descano is serving as commonwealth’s attorney.

 

“There would still be a little apprehension with the commonwealth’s attorney because he’s shown he’s very anti-police. He’s basically trying to be the commonwealth’s attorney and the legislative branch.”

 

Told of the anonymous officers’ opinion, Descano responded: “I’m committed to the call for change in our criminal justice system that our community has been demanding, which means I’ll always bring their values to the courthouse, regardless of the resistance I encounter from those who may not share them.”

 

It is unclear whom the Board of Supervisors will name to replace Roessler when he retires, but the officer said he wants a chief who will represent officers’ interests.

 

Fairfax County is not the only police department in the midst of a leadership change. Arlington County and Prince George’s County are expected to name new chiefs of police this year. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser named Assistant Chief Robert Contee to succeed Peter Newsham.

 

Council files lawsuit after Muslim woman says Fairfax police forced her to remove hijab

 

 

Council files lawsuit after Muslim woman says Fairfax police forced her to remove hijab

________________________________________

by Samantha Mitchell

Relations (CAIR) announced it held an online press conference to declare the filing of a federal lawsuit in Alexandria for Abrar Omeish, who says she was pepper-sprayed and forced to take off her hijab after being pulled over by a Fairfax County police officer in 2019.

CAIR asserts that the lawsuit on behalf of Omeish, who is a Virginia elected official, is meant to challenge police brutality, and to assist Omeish in launching the 'Fight for Five' colation for local and state reforms.

According to a press release sent out by CAIR, Omeish was pulled over by the Fairfax County officer after she turned right at a red light. She was then forced to remove her hijab, according to CAIR, and photographed in violation of federal law.

Gadeir Abbas, an attorney with the council, clarified that the incident happened in March 2019.

Abbas says the filing is supported by other community groups, leaders and activists to go "against the police brutality" in the case where he says Omeish was "illegally" forced to remove her hijab.

"Whether it's about what we're seeing now at the Capitol, and the conversations about race and policing in this country, what we saw this summer, what's been going on for many years, this was a situation that I never expected being in," Omeish said during the online press conference. "It's certainly not pleasant to have to imagine the prospect of a lawsuit, of what that's going to entail, on putting my privacy on public display."

She adds that she ended up with a concussion that night and she tried to explain the importance of her hijab, but she said it "didn't matter in that particular instance."

Omeish explains she's been wearing the hijab since the second grade, but says the "bigger picture is what's happening next."

She says she's been working for the past year to push for reform based on what happened, adding she says she hasn't seen much change in the aftermath, which is why she says she's calling for the lawsuit.

"The disproportionate impact that law enforcement has had on our community is untenable, it's unacceptable - and we're demanding something different, and I feel like this is my obligation to the community," Omeish explained.

According to Lena Masir, the CAIR Litigation Director, the lawsuit goes against the "egregious and senseless violation of [Omeish's] constitutional rights."

Masir adds that Omeish was pulled over for a minor traffic violation while she was on the way to a campaign rally for the Fairfax County School Board and says that the officer shouted at her, "forced her" out of her car and pepper-sprayed her. Masir clarified that the department investigated and said the officer used "excessive use of force" and Omeish "never presented any threat of danger."

"[Officers] forced Ms. Omeish to remove her hijab in plain view of male officers and detainees being held at that facility just to take her booking photo," Masir asserted. "Her photograph without her hijab was then uploaded to a statewide database that's available to all law enforcement in Virginia and the public, anyone who requests it, causing her to suffer from irreparable harm."

Masir also elaborated that out of any department of state and country-wide correctional facilities, "none of them require the removal of the hijab" or religious head coverings for identification purposes.

She adds that the hijab is "worn by many Muslim women around the world to safeguard their modesty," expressing the importance of it to Muslim women.

CAIR adds that Fairfax County Chief of Police's internal investigation found that the use of force in the case was "improper and in violation of departmental regulations."

"It's time Fairfax County joined other law enforcement agencies in respecting and protecting the rights of Muslim women and people of other faiths," Masir reiterated, adding that there are current 55,000 Muslims residing in Fairfax County.

She added that the council has been seeing a "rising trend" in cases of Muslim women being forced to remove their hijab, and there are currently pending lawsuits in Michigan, Florida and in California "challenging similar policies."

"We file this lawsuit on behalf of Ms. Omeish to both vindicate her rights, but also to impose a policy change that requires Fairfax County to respect the rights of Muslim women that wear the hijab," Masir explained.

In the press release, CAIR describes its organization as "America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims."

 

 

airfax officer booked into Allendale County jail over stolen pistol

 

 

Fairfax officer booked into Allendale County jail over stolen pistol

 

ALLENDALE, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Agents of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division arrested an off-duty captain with the Fairfax Police Department, SLED reported.

It happened Thursday when during a traffic stop when SLED agents and local law enforcement discovered the individual in possession of a stolen firearm and open container, SLED reported.

Donald Anthony Williams, 53, was charged with unlawful carrying of a pistol, possession of stolen pistol, misconduct in office and open container in motor vehicle, SLED reported.

Williams was booked at the Allendale County Detention Center.

The case will be prosecuted by the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

It wasn’t the only local arrest for SLED to be involved in this week.

 

So what? They'll get away with no matter what happens

 

Fairfax County Police Name Officers Involved in Falls Church Shooting

Fairfax County Police Chief Ed Roessler Jr. identified the officers as Master Police Officer Lance Guckenberger and Police Officer First-Class Matthew Grubb in a statement issued on Friday (Jan. 8).

Most police departments in Northern Virginia are participating, but three big departments are not: Fairfax County, Loudoun County and Alexandria.

 

Northern Virginia Police Departments Join Forces to Police Themselves

 

Police departments in Northern Virginia are reforming how officers are investigated when they use deadly force.

The Northern Virginia Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Committee announced the Northern Virginia Critical Incident Response Team Tuesday.

Currently, police use of force is investigated by detectives within the same department. Soon, it will be investigated by a team of detectives from multiple agencies except the agency involved in the shooting.

Once the investigation is complete, the process remains the same. The facts of the case are given to the prosecutor in the county where the officers involved in the shooting work, and the prosecutor will determine if the shooting was justified or criminal.

"This agreement demonstrates the commitment in Northern Virginia to the police chiefs involved to evolve and provide modern policing to our communities," Manassas Chief of Police Doug Keen said.

Most police departments in Northern Virginia are participating, but three big departments are not: Fairfax County, Loudoun County and Alexandria.

Thank God for Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano

  

Fairfax prosecutor presses case for more changes

·       by BRIAN TROMPETER, Sun Gazette Newspapers

 

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano approves of criminal-justice changes enacted in 2020, but said more needs to be done.

The reforms aim to reduce mass incarceration and racial and economic inequities in the criminal-justice system while maintaining community safety, Descano told the McLean Citizens Association in a Dec. 16 virtual meeting.

Descano, a Democrat, said he was “really excited” that Fairfax County police by the end of 2021 almost fully will implement a body-worn-camera program, providing cameras to about 1,200 officers.

“I really do feel that body-worn cameras are essential to creating trust in the community,” he said. “They are a great tool for evidence, they are a great tool for police accountability, and quite frankly, they’re also in many ways a tool to make sure our police aren’t being accused of things that they did not do.”

Descano is seeking 65 more staff members to ensure proper case prosecution and review of voluminous video recordings from police body and cruiser cameras. County prosecutors will need to review about 89,000 hours’ worth of body-worn-camera recordings annually, in addition to roughly 60,000 hours of recordings from cameras in police cruisers, he said.

Virginia’s commonwealth’s attorneys only statutorily are required to prosecute felonies, so the funding burden for tackling misdemeanors falls on localities,  said Descano, who previously served on the Fairfax County Police Civilian Review Panel. The county police department’s animal-control unit has a larger budget than the commonwealth’s attorney’s office, he said.

County officials are giving his office some annex space in a former warehouse and bus depot about 10 minutes from the courthouse.

“At the end of the day, I’m not trying to put my people in luxury. I’m just trying to get the job done for the people of the county,” Descano said.

Descano worked with General Assembly members during the lengthy special session this fall to increase diversion initiatives, which allow low-risk people to enter rehabilitation programs instead of being incarcerated.

Legislators also enacted police use-of-force reforms, banning chokeholds and making it the duty of officers to intervene if they witness a colleague using excessive force, he said.

Other new laws prohibit “no-knock” warrants and nighttime service of warrants. Another law, which will take effect next March, will limit “pretextual” stops by police on minor violations, which in some communities led to the over-policing of minorities, he said.

Descano said he hoped legislators in the future will address mandatory-minimum sentences for some offenses, which take discretion away from judges. He attempted to assure those participating in the event that such changes would not make the community less safe.

“We’re not talking about just letting people go free willy-nilly,” he said. “We are talking about finding the appropriate sentence for the facts of the case.”

A West Point graduate and former U.S. Army helicopter pilot who later worked as a federal prosecutor, Descano – who garnered significant campaign cash for outside interest groups, some affiliated with financier George Soros – last year narrowly defeated incumbent Raymond Morrogh (D) in a primary and beat independent challenger Jonathan Fahey in the November 2019 election.

Descano continued to criticize his predecessor, saying that upon taking office he discovered the commonwealth’s attorney’s office was “not doing the job they claimed to be doing . . . they were not reviewing evidence before going forward in cases. So I know that innocent people were being put in jail.”

Lack of evidence review in 2019 also caused an attempted-murder case to be dismissed, he said.

“Instead of just kind of burying my head in the sand, as had been done by the previous administration, I’ve actively been working with the [Board of Supervisors] and the county executive’s office to get the amount of resources that we need to actually do the job right.”

Since taking office in January, Descano has faced criticism that his office has stopped prosecuting minor crimes. Some Fairfax County police officers also have been criticial of some of his decisions.

Descano opposes requiring suspects who are not dangerous to the community to post cash bail while they await trial, saying this created a two-tier justice system. Those who cannot afford to pay may spend multiple days in jail, which could cost them their jobs, housing or custody of their children, he said.

Conversely, “if you’re a danger to the community, no amount of money should allow you to get out,” he said.

Descano opposes capital punishment, preferring to seek life imprisonment with no parole in such cases.

“The death penalty . . .  doesn’t do anything to keep us safer,” he said, calling it a waste of time and resources. “Every time an appeal comes up, that family, that victim, has to relive this horror over and over again.”

Moderator Patrick Smaldore thanked Descano for fielding a wide range of questions.

“It’s not an easy job [to be] in your shoes. I can see that now,” Smaldore said.

To view the discussion, visit www.facebook.com/mcleancitizens/videos/3781744845218045.

The point is being missed once again

 If the cops are a problem, right away the cops and the media look at race. 

The problem with the Fairfax County Police isn't race.

The cops has a problem with all races.

....okay? So it's a not a race issue....its a hiring issue. The FCPD hires malcontents with a punk attitude. Solve that problem....its solvable by brining in outside blood to kick ass and take names......and the County has basically solved 90% of their police issues   

 

In Quest for Transparency, FCPD Launches New Data Dashboard

Amidst national calls for transparency and accountability in policing, the Fairfax County Police Department is launching a new interactive data dashboard.

The tool, which is based on Geographic Information System mapping, houses data including arrests, citations, warnings and police department training and policies. FCPD will debut the new platform at a series of virtual town halls beginning on Nov. 18.

“We look forward to implementing this additional layer of accountability and leveraging data analytics to continue to strengthen trust and confidence in your police department,” FCPD wrote in a statement.

The department says the tool was designed based on community input.

“Our new GIS-based data dashboards were designed with input from stakeholders and we will continue to. Have healthy discussions with each of you concerning police policies and operations in all communities,” wrote FCPD Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. in a letter to the community on Oct.  16.

A renewed focus on FCPD’s operations is expected in early 2021 when a team of researchers from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is expected to complete an academic analysis of FCPD’s data and its relationship to core operations today.

 The review was initiated at the direction of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the county’s Independent Police Auditor.

Researchers at UTSA are studying the department’s culture after a study released in 2017 found that roughly 40 percent of all use-of-force incidents involve a Black individual.

Across the country, similar conversations about transparency in policing have resulted in reform and additional policy directives.

Recent arrest data released by the departments shows some evidence of disproportionate policing in the county. The data indicate that Black individuals make up roughly 39 percent of all arrests last year. Black residents account for 9.7 percent of the total population.

FCPD officers arrested 34,330 people in 2019, 57 percent of which were white. White residents make up roughly 61 percent of the total population.

In 2017, a study found that roughly 40 percent of all use-of-force incidents involve a Black individual.

Roessler Jr. says his department is grateful for “the additional layer of accountability” provided by the data sets and the ongoing academic review.

“Together, we shall continue to leverage data analytics to build trust,” he said.

FCPD plans to host virtual town halls with district station commanders to discuss training and policies related to the data sets. The complete schedule, including links to the meetings, is below:

•          Fair Oaks District – Nov. 18 https://bit.ly/3eJt3Uo

•          West Springfield District – Nov. 24 https://bit.ly/3khd01i

•          Sully District – Dec. 9 https://bit.ly/2JYG8y9

•          Mount Vernon District – Dec. 16 https://bit.ly/3peB8Wb

•          McLean District – Jan. 6 https://bit.ly/3kk4ZZz

•          Mason District – Jan. 20 https://bit.ly/32tXLfi

•          Reston District – Feb. 4 https://bit.ly/38vYDUG

•          Franconia District – Feb.  17 https://bit.ly/3ncEVBy

All meetings will be recorded and released the public at a later date.

..and it only took them 200 years to come up with a law that protects us from the Fairfax County Police

One day after defeat, House committee approves bill limiting qualified immunity for police officers

By Joe Dashiell

Published: Sep. 1, 2020 at 7:28 PM EDT

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) -One day after a House of Delegates committee failed to advance a key criminal justice reform, the measure resurfaced.

And this time, a bill that would make it easier to sue law enforcement officers for violating an individual’s rights moved closer to becoming law.

The legislation would limit the qualified immunity, the legal doctrine which currently shields officers from lawsuits.

It would create a civil action in state law for the deprivation of rights.

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“I hope that we will put in place something that will help people think about what they’re doing,” said Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County), “before they shoot people in the back.”

Opponents said the law would make it harder to recruit, and would encourage good officers to leave the force.

Del. Terry Austin (R-Botetourt County) said he had spoken with officers who oppose the measure.

“They’ve got many years of service,” Austin said. “They’re very dedicated to their profession, but this bill can be very devastating. And they’re not willing to jeopardize their livelihood and their homes in the event of a civil case.”

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The impact each side argued, would be significant.

“The worst thing that can happen here is you’re second-guessing yourself all the time and in the back of your mind is I can always be sued,” said Del. Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights).

" We went for eight and a half minutes. Someone was on George Floyd’s neck,”said Del. Delores McQuinn (D-Richmond). “There should have been a second-guessing at that time.”

This time the bill passed on a vote 12 to 8. Now it’s headed for a vote in the full House.

I don't agree with this guy, but at least he has tried to make a difference. The problem is punk attitude on FCPD, bottom line

Opinion: Commentary: Police Brutality, Peaceful Protest and Crime

By John Lovaas, Reston Impact Producer/Host

#It was my intention to dedicate this week’s column either to the adventure of running the Reston Farmers Market during Covid-19 or the whereabouts of the RA CEO. As you see, I am doing neither. I cannot ignore the endless police brutality and killing with impunity of people of color. And, I fear it could happen here. Images of shocking brutality on black people by rogue cops keep coming, courtesy of videos by ubiquitous cell phone videos. The latest from Kenosha, Wis. shows an officer holding Jacob Blake and pumping seven bullets into his back beside a car with Blake’s three young children inside. Then we see footage of rioting in Kenosha as police stand by watching, and even socializing a white man with an assault rifle he allegedly used to spray bullets at protesters, killing two of them. A few weeks before that we watched a Minneapolis officer execute George Floyd, asphyxiating him face down in the street with a knee in his back. Will the officers be held accountable for these vile acts? Not if history is our guide.

#Floyd’s killing resulted in massive protests all over the USA. In some cases, protests were followed by small groups rioting and looting, criminal acts using the peaceful protests as camouflage for destruction and robbery. These acts by thugs, among them white supremacists and others encouraged by the right, deserve condemnation by us all and prosecution to the full extent of the law. Law breakers’ violent acts divert attention from the urgent need to reform the police and, as Joe Biden says, not to defund them. End immunity, restore community!

#Fairfax County worked to reform our Police Department in 2015, following public uproar over the unprovoked killing of a white resident and a subsequent coverup. I served on the Ad Hoc Commission created to review police practices. The Commission unanimously adopted over 200 recommendations for transformation of the force. Since then, there has been progress, e.g., improved police training, new use of force regs, and better public information. However, key recommendations were not adopted by the Board of Supervisors. Others stalled in implementation, e.g., adoption of body-worn cameras for police officers.

#The most crucial shortcomings, ones that make the community vulnerable to continued police impunity, were the Board of Supervisors’ failure to adopt recommendations for independent investigation of police use of force and killings. The Commission recommended the County provide funding for both the Commonwealth Attorney and the Civilian Review Panel to contract independent investigators responsible to them, not to the other police officers. Without these reforms, police remain accountable to investigation only by fellow officers for killings and other use of force misdeeds. Without corrective action by the Board, impunity lives on in our Police Department.

#Another shortcoming in the reform effort is the failure of the Police Department to recruit, hire, and promote woefully under-represented minority officers, especially blacks and Latinos, to assure that the force resembles the community it serves. Despite assurances of recruiting in minority areas and the formation of a special diversity advisory group to the Chief, blacks and Latinos are just as under-represented in hiring and promotions to management levels as they were in 2015. One excuse I hear is: they just aren’t interested in being police officers. That is surprising considering that officer salaries start around $55,000. Again, one wonders when will the Board take corrective action?

#Finally, there is the matter of the impunity in the other law enforcement agency of Fairfax County. The Sheriff’s office, with 600 uniformed deputies, is a constitutionally independent unit which did not agree to participate in the reform process. It is the same outfit that in 2015 brutally tasered Natasha McKenna, a mentally ill black prisoner, to death while taking her from her cell to a vehicle for transfer to another jurisdiction. In this case, an official video was released for all to see. An “investigation” by County Police determined that none of the Sheriff’s staff was at fault. The steel blue curtain promptly closed. In this case, reform cannot be mandated by the Board of Supervisors. Reform falls to Sheriff Kincaid.

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.