Will somebody please explain to these idiot cops that high speed chase is dangerous to the community

The Fairfax County Cops have already killed a woman in a high speed response...enough is enough 

UPDATE: Man who led Fairfax Police on high-speed pursuit has been arrested
Brandon Forrest, 30, charged with possession of stolen property, grand larceny

The man that lead police on a high-speed pursuit in Fairfax has been arrested.

Brandon Forrest, 30, of Washington D.C., was arrested and charged for the Tuesday, Dec. 6, pursuit from Tysons Corner that ended on Interstate-395 and Washington Boulevard.

Forrest was taken to the Adult Detention Center where he was charged with possession of stolen property with the intent to sell and two counts of grand larceny. 

--------------------

Fairfax County Police were involved in a high-speed pursuit this morning after an investigation uncovered a larceny case at a department store in Tysons Corner. 

Officers attempted to perform a routine traffic stop, but the suspects did not adhere to orders, which initiated a high-speed pursuit. 

The pursuit proceeded out of Fairfax County, and with the assistance of Virginia State Police and Arlington County Police, the pursuit ended along I-395.


Copyright 2016 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or 

You know who's on the review board? The cops, their union bosses and police brass


Fairfax leaders approve police-review board
Thursday, December 8th, 2016 at 8:26am


Virginia’s largest jurisdiction moved forward Tuesday with creating a civilian board to review allegations of police abuse, joining the District, New York and other major U.S. cities that have taken steps to improve police accountability.
Concerns over police misconduct have spread across the country after a spate of fatal shootings by officers sparked protests and became part of the debates in the presidential election.
Fairfax County, whose Board of Supervisors approved the new civilian panel in a 9-to-1 vote, was motivated to act in the face of sharp criticism over how the county handled the fatal police shooting of an unarmed resident, John Geer, in 2013.
Adam Torres, who was fired from the police force two years after Geer’s death, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the case in April.
The case has prompted the county to pursue $35 million in reform efforts, including the hiring earlier this year of an independent auditor whose job will be to monitor use-of-force investigations. Fairfax officials also are considering requiring police officers to wear body cameras.
“What we’re doing here today is taking another step in making a great police department even better and being a model for the nation in how we continue to enhance trust between our community and the police,” said Sharon Bulova (D), chair of the Board of Supervisors.
Last year, Bulova created a police advisory committee that recommended 202 changes, following public outrage over the county’s initial refusal to share police internal affairs files with the Fairfax prosecutor, Raymond Morrogh (D), while he was investigating the Geer shooting. A county attorney also rejected a request by Morrogh to discuss the case with county supervisors, without informing supervisors of the request.
The nine-member civilian review board will scrutinize police department investigations into allegations of police abuse or misconduct. The board may also refer such allegations to the police department, but, unlike in some other jurisdictions, will not have any authority to investigate cases on its own.
If the board does not agree with the police department’s findings in a particular case, it may request that the supervisors order the county police chief to reopen the investigation.
The lone vote against creating the review panel came from Supervisor Pat Herrity, R-Springfield, who called the proposal “an act of political correctness.”
Herrity argued that there is already enough police accountability in Fairfax with the department’s internal affairs bureau and the new auditor position. He said creating a new board would be “duplicative,” as the county prepares for another tough budget year, and could hurt morale within the police department.
Supervisor Catherine Hudgins, D-Hunter Mill, pushed unsuccessfully to allow the board to take testimony from witnesses not interviewed by police in an investigation, arguing that such an expansion of powers would help instill deeper trust from residents who are wary of going to the police.
“We were unresponsive before and it was a very, very difficult environment to live in,” she said. “Citizens felt we were not listening, we were not engaged and that we did not want to be engaged.”
After a county attorney told the board that taking in additional evidence outside of an ongoing police investigation could make Fairfax vulnerable to a lawsuit, the supervisors decided to allow those witnesses to submit written testimony that would be turned over to the police.
Bulova said the various police changes being implemented by the county will help Fairfax avoid police shootings leading to injury or death.

“We don’t have very many of those in Fairfax County,” she said. “And we don’t want to have very many of those in Fairfax County.”

Predator Policing


This is what happens when you give the cops to much money......predator policing... we already pay beat cops to handle DWI.




FCPD launches DWI Enforcement Squad; out there now looking for holiday partiers
·         By Angela Woolsey/Fairfax County Times

Top of Form
Bottom of Form
Drinking and driving is never a good idea, but it might be especially ill-advised this holiday season, as the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) has dedicated personnel and resources specifically toward tackling this issue.
FCPD’s driving while intoxicated (DWI) enforcement squad launched out of the department’s operations support bureau in Annandale on Dec. 1.
Paid and equipped through a federal grant administered by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the new unit will exclusively handle incidents and cases involving people who operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and other drugs.
“The value of the work that you will be doing will literally prevent folks from being killed,” Captain Bob Blakley, who commands the traffic division of FCPD’s operations support bureau, told the squad during a pre-patrol briefing. “You all will be the front lines, the tip of the spear for the police department to curb this behavior.”
According to Robert Weakley, Fairfax district program manager for the Virginia DMV’s highway safety office, FCPD’s DWI Enforcement Squad is the third such unit in the state, which is in the second year of a pilot program that has also started in the Tidewater and Roanoke regions.
The overall frequency of alcohol-related crashes in Fairfax County has declined in recent years, and the police department hopes its new enforcement squad will help continue that downward trend.
Fairfax County had 523 alcohol-related crashes in 2015, compared to 600 in 2013, according to Blakley.
FCPD’s 2015 annual report found that, of the 22 fatal crashes in the county last year, seven of them involved alcohol, the same number as in 2013, when there were 26 fatal crashes in all. The county had eight alcohol-related fatal crashes out of 23 total incidents in 2014.
“We’ve seen a decline, and we want to keep it that way. We’re working towards zero deaths,” Weakley said.
The squad has nine officers, including a supervisor, who were selected based in part on their records for enforcing highway safety.
Sporting a collective average of 241 DWI arrests annually over the past seven years, the eight patrol officers on the squad will work from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. in four-day rotations, focusing on areas around the county that the department’s crime analysis unit has found to be hot spots for impaired driving.
During its first patrol, the squad was assigned to work the Mason and West Springfield districts.
The DWI Enforcement Squad will mark a change in approach for the appointed officers, who normally have to respond to all calls for service.
“Without having to deal with a patrol area and having other calls come out that you have to be dispatched to, you’re primarily dealing with [impaired drivers], so you’re not being diverted,” Pfc. Nicolas Pyzowski, one of the squad members, said.
Formerly a midnight patrol officer at FCPD’s Mount Vernon station, Pyzowski says that he has always concentrated a lot of his efforts on addressing drunk or impaired drivers, in part because those were the kinds of calls he frequently encountered on the night shift.
So, when he heard the department was forming a new team solely for this purpose, he immediately applied. He found out that he’d been accepted shortly after an interview in October.
DWI arrests can be time-consuming, requiring extensive paperwork, and they can sometimes be confrontational, though Pyzowski says they’re generally not more dangerous than any other encounters police officers might have.
Despite these challenges, Pyzowski sees enforcing impaired driving laws as a crucial part of his duty as a public safety officer.
“I felt it was very important to make a good impact on the community to get those drunk drivers off the road to save their lives and anyone else they could put in harm’s way,” the patrolman said.
Virginia law states that anyone driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 percent or higher is considered legally to be driving under the influence, but drivers can still be arrested with a lower BAC if their ability to operate their vehicle is impaired, according to the Virginia DMV.
Driving under the influence of drugs incurs the same penalties as driving under the influence of alcohol.
Along with increasing its enforcement efforts, Fairfax County emphasizes that prevention is an important factor in addressing impaired driving.

“We back this up with a heavy education media outreach type program, but we know that education alone, it has to work hand-in-hand with enforcement,” Weakley said. “If someone gets stopped, they [will] feel safer knowing their police is out there trying to prevent fatalities and serious injuries.”

THE AGONIZINGLY protracted story of John Geer

The Washington Post 


THE AGONIZINGLY protracted story of John Geer, the unarmed man shot to death by a Fairfax County police officer as he stood, hands up, in the doorway of his Springfield home almost three years ago, might finally have reached its end. Yet the county, which pledged reforms so that no such sorry sequence of events could ever recur, still has work to do.
Last week Adam D. Torres, the now-former officer who pulled the trigger, appeared in court to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, belatedly express remorse and agree with prosecutors to a 12-month prison sentence. If a judge accepts the deal, it will conclude a saga of police malfeasance, official stonewalling and political paralysis, all of which left a stain on Virginia’s biggest jurisdiction and its 1,300-officer police force.
It’s certainly reasonable to believe, as Mr. Geer’s parents do, that Mr. Torres got off lightly. Four other police officers contradicted Mr. Torres’s account that he had seen Mr. Geer suddenly lower his hands, as if going for a weapon. To the contrary, they said his hands were up when Mr. Torres fired the fatal shot into Mr. Geer’s chest.
Nonetheless, Mr. Torres, who was jailed without bond in August, will remain behind bars for now. Fired last year from the police force, he is a convicted felon, and he will never again work as a law enforcement officer. His punishment is substantial. Mr.Geers former partner, who was reluctant to testify as was the couples 19-year-old daughter — was amenable to the plea deal.
Notwithstanding Mr. Torres’s plea, no resolution has been reached for the systemic and institutional problems in Fairfax laid bare in the aftermath of Mr. Geer’s death. Chief among these is the glaring lack of accountability in the police department, whose once-excellent reputation has been badly damaged.
That damage was self-inflicted. Following Mr.Geers unwarranted death, the department went into a defensive crouch, providing no information on the case for a year and refusing to cooperate with state and federal prosecutors. The stonewalling, which the police undertook with the connivance of the county attorney’s office, which was derelict in its duty, stunned the top prosecutor in Fairfax. “I’ve never seen anyone act like that in a position of trust, withholding information,” said the prosecutor, Raymond F. Morrogh. “It really hurt all the people involved. It was dead wrong. I hope it never happens again.”
To avoid such a recurrence, officials empaneled a commission to review police policies and practices. The commission produced many recommendations, some of which have been adopted, including new use-of-force guidelines that emphasize restraint and de-escalation.
Other recommendations are under review by the county’s elected Board of Supervisors, including ones that would mandate a greater degree of information-sharing and empower an independent auditor to oversee internal police investigations in cases involving the use of force.

A critical test of the county’s commitment to reform is whether it establishes a civilian board to review alleged police misconduct. Pushback from unions representing rank-and-file police should not deter supervisors from ensuring that the panel consists of civilians, not current and former police. Police departments around the country have gained credibility from such panels; Fairfax County must not pull back from the brink of real reform.

The killing of John Geer now looks unmistakably like a police cover up


The killing of John Geer now looks unmistakably like a police cover up

IN BROAD daylight and at close range, three Fairfax County police officers saw a fourth officer, Adam Torres, shoot John Geer once in the chest in August 2013. Two other witnesses, Mr. Geer’s father and a friend, also saw it. All five of those witnesses agreed that Mr. Geer, who had a holstered handgun at his feet, had his hands up at the moment Officer Torres pulled the trigger.
Mr. Geer, a 46-year-old father of two, committed no known crime that day. He had been speaking calmly with the officers for almost three-quarters of an hour when the lethal shot was fired. He then bled to death just inside the doorway of his home.
That was more than 17 months ago, and still there has been no accounting for Mr. Geer’s death. No charges. No indictment. No prosecution. And no information until last week, when the police, complying with a judge’s order, finally released thousands of documents.
Those documents provide a stark picture: Only Officer Torres contended that Mr. Geer made a sudden movement as if going for a gun.
Everyone involved in this case has dropped the ball and dodged responsibility, enabling what now looks like a coverup in a case of police impunity.
The police, who did not seek medical treatment for Mr. Geer or retrieve his body for more than an hour, falsely claimed Mr. Geer had “barricaded” himself inside his house after he was shot, then stonewalled prosecutors and the public for months.
The top prosecutor in Fairfax, Ray Morrogh, punted the case to the feds over a supposed conflict of interest involving a courthouse shouting match between Officer Torres and a rank-and-file prosecutor. That seems a far-fetched reason not to pursue the case.
The feds — first the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alexandria, then the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division — sat on the case for months more, saying nothing.
Fairfax’s County’s governing body, the Board of Supervisors, seems incapable of getting its own employees — namely the police and the County Attorney’s office — to conduct themselves responsibly and transparently. The supervisors have managed nothing beyond tut-tutting that things don’t look quite right and calling for a review of policies.
The Wall Street Journal reported recently that Fairfax, one of the largest police departments in the nation, does not regard police-involved shootings as an “actual offense” and therefore does not report them to the FBI — part of a pattern among law enforcement agencies that results in no reliable statistics on the number of people police kill.
That mind-set seems to have infected virtually every agency in Fairfax, in addition to the feds, that should have stepped up to see that justice was done in the Geer case. The case should be presented to a jury, which can weigh Officer Torres’s account against those of other witnesses. The delay and obfuscation represent a travesty of justice.

From the comments section of the Washington Post
Time for Feds to get involved- for this and any other suspicious police killing.

From the comments section of the Washington Post
There are people in law enforcement who should never have been issued a gun and the authority to use it. Remember Drew Peterson? Darren Wilson? Then there's Timothy Loehmann, a rookie cop whose former cop boss said was unfit for duty and likely never would be. His shooting of young Tamir Rice could go down as the fastest murder in police history. The video of that tragedy leaves little room for doubt. The entire organization is in desperate need of an overhaul. The fact that the police are unhappy, to say the least, about being videoed by the public is the exact reason why more should be doing just that. There are too many unarmed citizens being shot and killed by police. Their 'shoot to kill' mandate needs to disappear. This is all going downhill far too quickly.

From the comments section of the Washington Post
It's funny how every time I ask who people have contacted about this, what they have done to change things, or ask for help making something happen, all I get is crickets. What's a word for people who talk a lot, but do nothing?

From the comments section of the Washington Post
Mr. Geer didn't assault anyone before he was shot. Why hasn't the DOJ pursued this case? Why hasn't our president weighed in? Oh. I see.

From the comments section of the Washington Post
There will always be good officers that make bad decisions and bad officers that abuse power. It's what occurs after these incidents that needs to change in this county. While this investigation seems to have been completed in a fair a impartial manner, the people cannot be expected to trust that this will always be the case. That said, there is no excuse for the obstruction of both state and federal investigations. If this county will not implement a policy of independent investigation when an officer takes a life then they at the very least need to have an oversight committee. The SUPERVISORS  (using that term loosely) need to have a policy allowing 90 days for the department to complete an investigation. The COMPLETE details then need to be given to a citizens review board. This board could be made up of community leaders or possibly retired police, judges or lawyers. The committee would review the facts and then forward their findings and any recommendations to the Commonwealth Attorney. I encourage you to endorse independent oversight and use the email addresses below and respectfully tell the Supervisors how you feel. 



From the comments section of the Washington Post
OK--Washington Post. You and every TV news person covered the Missouri event 24/7 non-stop. However, we didn't have that type of coverage for Mr. Geer and you didn't even put these current articles on the front page. I haven't heard news coverage on TV. What about equality for Mr. Geer. Could it be because he is a White man? Before everyone reacts to that question, just think about it. When a White cop causes the death of a Black person, whether armed or unarmed, whether suspcious behavior or not, this country reacts. You react with civil unrest and accusations, whether unfounded or proven. In this instance, there has been little coverage. So people--where is the outrage for Geer and his family? Where is the media coverage of the same level as you demonstrated for others? I am angry with media and you mostly report with your own opinions--few of you have the right to the name of "journalist" because you don't know the true meaning of journalism. Mr. Geer did nothing to be shot he and and his family deserve all the respect and equality as you have provided in other instances.

From the comments section of the Washington Post
"Mr. Geer did nothing to be shot he and and his family deserve all the respect and equality as you have provided in other instances."

From the comments section of the Washington Post
At least there is no wonder why the public DOES NOT TRUST POLICE!. They lie, kill, molest and cover up-in the name of the policeman brotherhood. 
This place is the beginnings of a little Mexico.


From the comments section of the Washington Post
For those who are interested in how law enforcement has become "hardened" over the years, I strongly recommend reading "Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces" written by Post blogger Radley Balko. 

From the comments section of the Washington Post
I served numerous arrest and search warrants over my career--mostly with one or two other detectives and a uniform or two as backup. Today, the overwhelming majority are served after a SWAT team "secures" the location--even if the violation is for some non-violent offense. 
 I make no judgment on that evolution just an observation that what was once done by an adequate number of mere mortals is now performed by a highly-trained and well-armed team of tactical folks who operate at a higher level of anticipation, perhaps even expectation, than a situation requires.

From the comments section of the Washington Post

Essentially, once a person becomes a police officer, it's total immunity. The officer can lie, cheat, steal, beat his wife and your wife too.  He literally can commit rape, robbery and murder while not ever fearing retribution.  Then retire on a full pension and health care.


Fairfax County could go from wrong to right on police reform

Fairfax County could go from wrong to right on police reform

 Fairfax County will vote Tuesday on a police reform proposal.
By Editorial Board December 5 at 7:13 PM

FAIRFAX COUNTY will have the chance Tuesday to go from wrong to right on police accountability.
The county was wrong when it failed for more than a year to take responsibility for the shooting of an unarmed man by one of its officers in 2013. It started to make things right when, after the controversy that followed, the county Board of Supervisors commissioned a group of civilians to propose accountability-boosting revisions to police procedures. Tuesday, the most essential of those recommendations — a civilian review panel to look over investigations of police misconduct — could finally get the green light.
The panel would allow citizens to submit complaints about police investigations they think have gone awry through a channel outside the department. Their peers, all members of the Fairfax County community, would review those complaints and determine whether the case deserved a second look. The board has already approved an independent auditor to monitor internal affairs investigations of incidents involving death or serious injury.
The review-panel plan has been revised somewhat since the initial recommendation. For example, while citizen complainants will retain the right to speak and take questions before the panel, they won’t be allowed to present new evidence or testimony. And although the commission suggested the panel have a single representative from a law enforcement background, it now must have a minimum of one. It’s up to the Board of Supervisors to appoint a balanced slate of members.
Even with these alterations, the panel’s approval Tuesday would mark a major turning point for Fairfax. John Geer’s death more than three years ago made news, and it laid bare broader problems in county policing. Just this summer, statistics showed that more than 40 percent of use-of-force cases in the county involved black residents, who account for only about 10 percent of the county’s population.
These troubling numbers underscore the need for reforms, including outside review. But the county can’t stop there: Though the police department says it has implemented around 90 percent of the recommendations under its purview, some remain in progress. A pilot program for police body cameras, which the board says it plans to turn to early next year, should top the list.
The citizen review panel is designed to address abuse after it occurs. The county must continue pursuing other measures to stop that abuse from happening in the first place.

From the comments section of the Washington Post
Astonishing that the Washington Post editors simply signed on to the self-serving claims posted by Chairman Bulova about progress in reforming Fairfax County police Department.
Why does the Post continue to ignore the fact that Bulova herself chose to let the Police Department—famed for its stonewalling, secrecy and lack of accountability -- call the shots on police reform by turning over responsibility for revisions of the Ad Hoc Commission to the Police Chief and former Police Chief (now Deputy County Executive)? Why was there no mention of the facts revealed by Pete Earley and John Lovaas, two members of the Ad Hoc Commission, who bravely took issue with the myths being propagated by County spokespersons in the Metro section just two days earlier? 

From the comments section of the Washington Post
I really thought the chief was getting it. He needs to be fired if this culture of public deceit is ever going to change.
 The chief declines consent???
His consent is not required!
As for Sean Corcoran, the President of the police union, he is a clown. He was a commissioner and was also on the subcommittee that wrote the proposal that included a civilian review panel. He voted FOR all the recommendations including the civilian panel. It should also be noted that Sean Corcoran was also the one that said he finds it "UNBELIEVABLE" that an officer could be charged with murder while in the commission of his duties. I wonder where the Geer case would be today if a detective like Corcoran was in charge of the Geer investigation. After all, he would have ruled out murder even before he arrived at the scene.

From the comments section of the Washington Post
Geer was obviously just the tip of the iceberg. It seems like every week some new story about misconduct by the Fairfax PD emerges. The way to reform the dept. is to make everyone resign and then re-apply for their jobs and use this to cull the bad apples - starting with the chief.

From the comments section of the Washington Post
I disagree with the statement that the Fairfax Police used to have a sterling reputation. While they may not have engaged in many unjustified shootings, they have always had a reputation for being surly at best in their dealings with the public. Many people in Fairfax attributed that to the fact that the police did not make enough money to live in Fairfax, and they resented those who did.

From the comments section of the Washington Post
Pretty much, if the Police Union is against it, I'm for it, and vice-versa.

From the comments section of the Washington Post
They sound like Iranians, they want to review themselves. A great deal if you can negotiate it.

From the comments section of the Washington Post
The Fairfax County PD is a decent department. They would be better if the get rid of the holier than thou attitude. That attitude runs county wide amongst its employees.



Will Fairfax police be reformed?


            Will Fairfax police be reformed?

            By Editorial Board October 17, 2015

            THE UNWARRANTED death of John Geer, the unarmed man shot and killed by a Fairfax County police officer in 2013 as he stood on the doorstep of his own house in Springfield, seemed for the longest time akin to death-by-lightning-bolt. A tragic event, to be sure, but one that imparted no lessons, triggered no consequences and engendered no reforms. The official response: too bad, just one of those things.
            Owing to public outrage in Fairfax, that has now changed. After two years of prosecutorial paralysis, both at the federal and state levels, the police officer who shot Mr. Geer, Adam Torres, was indicted on murder charges this summer. And, this month, a county commission established to review police department procedures emerged from six months of deliberations with an array of tough recommendations that would establish a new regimen of accountability for the cops.
            The commission’s recommendations, adopted unanimously, will now be put to the county’s Board of Supervisors. They deserve robust support, especially the one most likely to encounter pushback from department: the establishment of a civilian panel to review allegations of police abuse and misconduct.
            Fairfax’s police department, with 1,400 sworn officers, is, after the state police, the biggest law enforcement agency in Virginia. Before Mr. Geer’s death, and several other similarly questionable police shootings in recent years, it enjoyed a sterling reputation. But the aftermath of the Geer shooting — witnessed in broad daylight by several other officers (who didn’t shoot) as well as neighbors — was a textbook case of how not to cultivate the public’s trust. Basic information, including the name of the officer who shot Mr. Geer, was withheld. For months, the department offered no coherent (or true) explanation of what had happened. Prosecutors punted the case to the feds, with no apparent justification.
            Police and prosecutors finally awoke from their torpor and did their jobs — but not until Mr. Geer’s family, justifiably angry and bewildered at the official inertia, filed suit, a U.S. senator started asking questions and county residents started protesting publicly.
            Sound policies and procedures would prevent another such farce, as the commission empowered by the Board of Supervisors understood. In addition to its recommendation that a seven-member citizens’ panel be established to review alleged police misconduct, the commission urged that an independent auditor be empowered to oversee internal police investigations in cases involving the use of force, including when police kill civilians. The auditor would be named by and report to the Board of Supervisors.
            In addition, the commission laid out an array of reforms whose effect would be to tilt the police toward 21st-century policies of transparency and information-sharing, and more restraint in the use of force by officers in tense situations. Key to that is the deployment of more teams or individual officers with specialized training in dealing with mentally ill people, who now constitute big shares of those detained and jailed in the county.
            Grumbling has already begun, particularly about the civilian review panel. The county police chief, Edwin Roessler, is withholding his consent, and the police union has rejected it outright.

            The fact is, most of the nation’s largest police departments have such review panels, and most of them include or are composed of civilians, and for good reason; that’s whom the department serves. Whether the Board of Supervisors stands up to the department or succumbs to it will be a test of elected officials’ backbone and resolve to clean up the police.


the problem with the Fairfax County Police is the problem with the police nationwide

As I have written over and over, the problem with the Fairfax County Police is the problem with the police nationwide that there is a frightening number of mentally ill people working as police officers.

The Fairfax County Mental Health system had a screening program for applicants to the police department. Psychological interviewing and testing would decide whether the applicant was psychologically appropriate for the stresses of police work.

This program was abandoned by the police many years ago now.  

Why are we dealing with this silliness?


The proposed Civilian Review Board is, by design, limited by it lack of any real power or authority, it has no investigative power and refers complaints to the police internal affairs department who sweep it under the carpet as quickly as possible because THE PURPOSE OF THE FAIRFAX COUNTY INTERNAL AFFAIRS OFFICE IS TO  PROTECT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT FROM CITIZENS.


The proposed Civilian Review Board has no budget for investigation, no subpoena power to compel testimony and no authority to impose discipline. 

So why are we dealing with this silliness?


Fairfax County can restore confidence in its police department


Fairfax County can restore confidence in its police department

By Pete Earley and John Lovaas December 2


Pete Earley and John Lovaas served on the Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission.
It has been a year since Fairfax County announced it would review recommendations by a special commission to restore public confidence in its police department. Sadly, it has approved only a handful of changes and has weakened some reforms that it approved, raising questions about the county’s commitment to transparency and change.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova took a courageous step when she appointed a 35-member Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission to examine police practices after the 2013 fatal shooting of John Geer. The unarmed Geer was killed by an officer who was later fired and who pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but only after 17 months of stonewalling by the police and the county.

The commission, which included nine active and former police officials, unanimously recommended 142 changes in October 2015 to bolster public confidence. County officials divided them into 202 recommendations under four broad categories. Nearly half concerned “use of force” by police officers. The others focused on police communications with the public, how officers treat individuals with mental illnesses and creating independent oversight of the police.

Of the 202 recommendations, only 20 have been approved. Four were rejected. The remaining 178 are listed as “under review” or “in progress” with no date for completion.
Among those stuck in limbo are the use of body cameras and requirements to make the police more forthcoming after officer-involved shootings to preclude a repeat of the Geer failures.

Besides the slow progress, the board has crippled some recommendations it approved. The commission recommended the board appoint an independent police auditor to review criminal and administrative (disciplinary) investigations of officer-involved incidents that result in civilian death or serious injury and, impanel a civilian review panel to receive and consider citizen complaints about incidents of alleged police abuse of authority or other serious misconduct.

In September, the Board of Supervisors agreed to hire a police auditor, but it sharply curtailed the auditor’s authority. It rejected hiring two independent criminal investigators and ruled that the auditor not review criminal matters until after the cases were officially closed, a legal process that often takes months or years. Instead of directly monitoring internal investigations, the auditor would be informed about them through the police chief.
On Dec. 6, the supervisors will meet to vote on creation of the civilian review panel. Although the commission’s recommendations were unanimously adopted, including “yes” votes by police department and police union representatives, Deputy County Executive David Rohrer, a former Fairfax police chief, and county staff are recommending the board restrict citizen complainants’ right to speak before the panel and its ability to question them, forcing the panel to rely largely on investigations by the department.

Police officers deserve public trust and support. Public outrage about Geer’s death showed significant distrust of the police and officers being subject only to investigation by fellow officers. Before Geer’s death, no Fairfax police officer had been criminally charged, much less indicted, in a killing during the department’s 75-year history. Also troubling: Of the reported 539 police use-of-force incidents in Fairfax County in 2015, 40 percent involved African Americans even though the county’s black population hovers around 8 percent.
If the board hopes to restore public trust, it needs to adopt the commission’s recommendations for the civilian review panel and citizens’ rights without tinkering, and it must speed up approval of the reforms still languishing on the shelves.



This is why the board of supervisors lets the cops run rampant

 Do the math................


In Fairfax County, more than 13,000 tickets have been issued for failing to pay full time attention, which includes texting while driving, said Cmdr. Bob Blakley. The cost of this citation starts at $97.

"failing to pay full time attention" is an opinion law, in other words the Fairfax County Cops can....and do....make up this offense as a money maker....the more money they bring in, the bigger their cut from the partners on the board of supervisors......

  

The Fairfax County Cops refused to be regulated, write their own budget and murder citizens and this is the hard coverage they get from the local media

Thanks to the Fairfax County Police...Santa's coming to town early!
by GOOD MORNING WASHINGTON
Monday, December 5th 2016

As Christmas approaches, children everywhere will be watching the skies for Santa Claus. in Fairfax County some very special children won’t have to wait until Christmas Eve! (ABC7)

WASHINGTON (ABC7) — As Christmas approaches, children everywhere will be watching the skies for Santa Claus. in Fairfax County some very special children won’t have to wait until Christmas Eve, because Santa's paying them a visit early. Oh1 Did we mention Santa will temporarily trade in his sleigh and reindeer for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle? Police Officer First Class Chuck Reinhard, Mrs. Claus, Frosty, Rudolph and the man himself Santa stopped by GMW to share all the