A fellow officer’s body camera captured Officer Tyler Timberlake tasing an unarmed man who was having some sort of episode in the middle of a Mount Vernon street.
After the unarmed man was on the ground, the camera showed Officer Timberlake putting his knee on the man’s back, hitting him with the taser, then tasing him again.
The officer’s attorney said Timberlake thought the man was a different person.
The Police Chief, Commonwealth’s Attorney and County Executive condemned the officer’s actions.
Tuesday afternoon Chief Ed Roessler and Chief Equity Officer Karla Bruce reiterated Fairfax County’s values and the reforms it has made over the years to improve the department’s Use of Force Policy.
The Chief also updated the community on the body camera program, which the County Executive is accelerating after funding issues (especially with COVID-19) delayed Phase II and Phase II.
Phase I provided 416 cameras to the Mason, Reston and Mount Vernon Stations, as well as a few divisions within the department.
Once fully implemented, there will be more than 1,200 cameras on the streets of Fairfax County. The program costs more than $6 million.
The county’s policies and procedures were updated after the shooting of John Geer in 2013.
The Department’s Use of Force Policy only allows deadly force “in the most extreme circumstances where all lesser means of force have failed or could not reasonably be utilized.”
The department requires “officers hold the highest regard for the sanctity of human life, dignity and liberty of all individuals.”
Officers have a duty to intervene if they see another officer using excessive force.
Choke holds are banned, and de-escalation is expected.
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