It’s not about transparency, it’s
about hiring low brow, sub-par people as police officers.
It’s that simple.
Don’t force these clown to be transparent,
force them to hire a higher grade of human being.
It’s that simple.
Fairfax County: Supervisors
Approve Independent Police Auditor
Unanimous vote follows Ad Hoc
Commission recommendations for more transparency and oversight of Fairfax
County police.
Recent data released by Chief
Roessler shows that 40 percent of Fairfax County Police use of force incidents
involved African Americans while only 8 percent of county residents are African
American. Supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock) offered this as an example of
broader policy issues that the auditor could study.
By Tim Peterson
Supervisor Pat Herrity (center,
R-Springfieldt) expressed concern that an independent auditor position would
increase the police department’s administrative workload. He proposed funding
two additional positions in FCPD’s internal affairs bureau immediately, but
those positions will wait until 2018.
With a unanimous vote on Tuesday,
Sept. 20, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the creation of an
independent police auditor office, following recommendations from the Ad Hoc
Police Practices Review Commission.
Supervisor John Cook
(R-Braddock), chairman of the board’s Public Safety Committee, said the proposal
for auditor was true to the essence and “basic philosophical approach” of the
commission in calling for an impartial civilian who would review police
investigations as they’re occurring and report directly to the Board of
Supervisors.
“The auditor would be involved in
monitoring and making recommendations in the course of the police
investigations, a lot more efficient than waiting until the end,” Cook said.
“Police would receive real time comment back from the auditor’s office to help
strengthen those investigations.”
Board of Supervisors Chairman
Sharon Bulova established the 32-member commission following public outcry over
the August 2013 death of John Geer, 46. Geer was unarmed and standing in the
doorway of his Springfield home when he was shot and killed by FCPD officer
Adam Torres. The police and county refused to release information on the case
for more than a year, and then after court orders.
Torres, who was fired in July
2015 and indicted by a grand jury for murder in August 2015, was the first
Fairfax County Police officer in the history of the department to be charged in
such a death. Torres entered a guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter,
received credit for time served for his 12 month sentence and was released in
June.
THE AD HOC COMMISSION and its
five subcommittees met intensively beginning in March 2015, reporting to the
Board of Supervisors in October, 2015, with 142 recommendations, including the
recommendations to establish the Office of Independent Auditor.
“This has not been easy, that is
an understatement,” Bulova said. “It’s the first time we’ve established a
position such as this.”
It is the first independent,
civilian oversight of the Fairfax County Police.
The scope of the independent
auditor’s work will include reviewing all cases in which police use of force
result in serious injury or death, Cook said. The auditor would also review any
citizen complaint about police use of force even if it does not involve serious
injury or death.
Cook said the auditor would issue
an annual report, and that the auditor would also be available to engage in
policy and practice analysis regarding use of force, as suggested by the Board
of Supervisors, County Executive or Chief of Police.
For example, the auditor could
study and make recommendations concerning recent data released by Chief Edwin
Roessler about demographics of police use of force, Cook said. There were 539
use-of-force incidents in 2015 and data show that 40 percent of those incidents
involved African Americans while only 8 percent of county residents are African
American.
Cook also pointed out that,
unlike an ordinance or land use case, the board may make changes to the
independent auditor position in the future.
“If we pass this,” he said, “It
would not be shocking at all that auditor could come back and recommend we look
at a few adjustments” in the future.”
Commission member and Use of
Force subcommittee chair Phil Niedzielski-Eichner called today’s action “a
remarkable achievement for the commission’s work.” He acknowledged the vision
of the auditor was for a position that would be independent, but not separate,
from the police work.
“This gives the public a real
feeling of comfort,” said Randy Sayles of Oak Hill, a member of Use of Force
subcommittee, looking forward to use of force investigations with the auditor
on board, “of the integrity and transparency of the process.”
Commission member Adrian Steel of
McLean called the unanimous vote “quite affirming.” He also appreciated the
auditor being able to be involved in identifying trends and reviewing policy,
again getting back to the disproportionate percentage of African Americans
impacted by use of force incidents.
“The whole thought was for the
auditor to become involved in picking up these types of things,” he said.
Reston resident John Lovaas, an
alternate on the commission for Nicholas Beltrante with the Virginia Citizens
Coalition for Police Accountability, said he wasn’t happy with the way he
believed the supervisors deviated from the commission’s version of the
position.
“They eviscerated the
independence of the independent auditor,” Lovaas said, citing the auditor’s
dependence on cooperation from the police.
Other commission recommendations
that have already been approved include the establishment of the Diversion
First program providing treatment rather than jail for people in mental health
crisis and more transparency in police communications.
THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE will
discuss the creation of a Civilian Review Panel, a complementary oversight entity
to the auditor as proposed by the Ad Hoc Commission, at its next meeting,
scheduled for Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. at the Fairfax County Government Center.
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