The Board of Supervisors
unanimously approved this week the Office of the Independent Police Auditor.
By Mary Ann Barton (Patch Staff)
- September 23, 2016 4:42 pm ET
________________________________________
FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA -- The Fairfax
County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Office of the Independent
Police Auditor this week. This position has a broad mandate and will report
directly to the Board of Supervisors, the County said in a news release.
“We fully support the
establishment of the Office of Police Auditor to increase our transparency to
the community we proudly serve," Colonel Edwin Roessler Jr., chief of
police, said.
The position will have many
responsibilities and roles, but as a sampling, here are five key ways the auditor
will work to enhance trust between our community and police, according to
Fairfax County:
1.) Monitor and review internal
investigations of Fairfax County Police Department officer-involved shootings,
in-custody deaths and use of force cases in which an individual is killed or
seriously injured.
2.) Request further investigation
if the auditor determines that an internal investigation was deficient or
conclusions were not supported by the evidence.
3.) Issue a public report for
each reviewed internal investigation.
4.) Review all resident complaint
investigations of alleged excessive or unnecessary force by officers.
5.) Produce annual reports
analyzing trends and recommending improvements.
The police auditor is part of the
broader set of changes to the department, which have also included:
• Established
Diversion First.
• Re-engineered
how police are trained with a focus on de-escalation and the sanctity of life.
• Reorganized
the public affairs team and hired a full-time civilian director.
• Established
a policy to release the names of officers involved in critical incidents within
10 days and provide updates on these incidents at least every 30 days.
• Collected
and published key data on police interactions including uses of force and
officer-involved shootings.
• And
now established the Office of the Independent Police Auditor.
Creating an independent civilian
review panel will be discussed at the next meeting of the Board of Supervisors’
Public Safety Committee on Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. in Rooms 9/10 at the Fairfax
County Government Center.
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