When will this ever end? The Fairfax Police break the law, investigate themselves, find themselves innocent and the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney agrees with their finding...its amazing they can get away with this.....but they do..
FCPD arrest of reporter was impartial, independent auditor says
By Angela Woolsey/Fairfax County Times
The Fairfax County Police Department’s investigation into the arrest of a reporter at the Annandale Parade in October was complete, thorough, objective, impartial, and accurate, Fairfax County Independent Police Auditor Richard Schott found in an incident report released on Aug. 10.
Fairfax County police arrested ShareBlue Media reporter Wilfred Michael Stark III, then 49, on Oct. 28, 2017 for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after a confrontation over his use of profanity escalated with a takedown by multiple officers.
A video taken of Stark’s arrest was posted to Twitter on Oct. 31 by songwriter and activist Holly O’Reilly and widely shared, drawing scrutiny of the involved FCPD officers for using force against a journalist at a public event.
The video showed a pair of officers attempting to handcuff Stark against a fence after he uttered a profanity before throwing him to the ground. Four more officers appeared to pin Stark down until he was handcuffed and patted down.
Stark was at the Annandale Parade as part of his ongoing coverage of lobbyist and Republican gubernatorial nominee Ed Gillespie’s 2017 campaign to become Virginia’s new governor, according to a message posted on Oct. 31 by ShareBlue Media executive editor Jess McIntosh.
A truck for Gillespie’s campaign was featured in the Annandale Parade, an annual community event.
Fairfax County police initially sought a warrant for drunkenness and profane swearing in addition to disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, but a magistrate issued warrants for the latter two charges only on the grounds that swearing was covered under the disorderly conduct charge.
Fairfax County General District Court ultimately found Stark, a Falls Church resident, not guilty of resisting arrest and guilty of disorderly conduct on Feb. 13, ordering him to pay a $500 fine.
The FCPD’s internal affairs bureau conducted an internal administrative investigation of the incident, but the department did not make any referrals to the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Schott affirmed the internal affairs bureau’s finding that all of the involved officers had complied with the FCPD’s general order regarding the use of force as well as its determination that a lieutenant who asked an onlooker to stop videotaping the incident had violated departmental policy.
FCPD General Order 540 permits officers to use force “to the extent it is objectively reasonable to defend oneself or another, to control an individual during an investigative or mental detention, or to lawfully effect an arrest.”
FCPD General Order 603.1 asserts that individuals, including members of the press, have a right under the First Amendment to record on-duty police officers while in any place that they are legally allowed to be present.
The policy prohibits officers from threatening, intimidating, or otherwise discouraging any individual from recording police activity.
In his review of the FCPD investigation, Schott described Stark’s arrest as an “unfortunate confrontation that played out in a very public way” and could have been avoided had the reporter not loudly cursed at an event “designed to promote community involvement and neighborhood camaraderie.”
“The arrest of a reporter covering a parade in which politicians took part offended some observers, as did the force used to accomplish it,” Schott said. “In my opinion, however, both the arrest and force used were reasonable police responses to Stark’s actions.”
The objectivity of the FCPD’s internal review came into question after Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. defended his officers’ actions in a press conference held on Oct. 31 shortly after video of Stark’s arrest began circulating.
“The officer was exercising his lawful authority to effect an arrest and could not control this gentleman,” Roessler said in reference to the officer who used a leg sweep to take Stark down to the ground.
The internal affairs bureau’s investigation into the incident was still ongoing at that time.
Schott’s report acknowledges that the police chief’s vocal support for his officers might have it difficult for investigators to conclude those officers had acted inappropriately, but he argues that Roessler would likely have been criticized for a lack of transparency had he not commented.
“While it is understandable that Chief Roessler wanted to defend his officers following this controversial situation, concern that his bold statements defending those officers would prohibit a thorough review is also understandable,” Schott said. “While I understand this skepticism, I reiterate my opinion that the internal investigation was complete, thorough, objective, impartial, and accurate.”
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