By withholding jail video, Fairfax County sends a message that it opposes accountability

By Editorial Board July 28

EVEN BEFORE the violence a year ago in Ferguson, Mo., after the police killing of Michael Brown, many law enforcement agencies across the country responded to incidents involving the use of deadly force by proactively releasing dashcam, body-camera and other video footage when it existed. The idea, as a top police official told The Post after video of a 12-year-old boy killed by a rookie patrol officer in Cleveland was released days after the incident in November, is “in the spirit of being open and fair with our community.”

By a quick, partial and unscientific scan of Google, we see videos released by police and other law agencies involving fatal incidents over the past 18 months in Boston; Tulsa; Gardena, Calif.; Longview, Tex.; North Charleston, S.C.; Albuquerque ; and, in the recent arrest of Sandra Bland — who later died in jail in an alleged suicide — Prairie View, Tex.

If only the authorities in Fairfax County had gotten the message.

In Fairfax, nearly six months after the fact, officials in the police, sheriff’s and prosecutor’s offices continue to withhold from the public a video depicting an in-custody struggle at the county jail between guards and Natasha McKenna, a mentally ill inmate. Ms. McKenna, who was shot repeatedly with a Taser stun gun after she had been handcuffed, never regained consciousness; she died five days later, on Feb. 8.

Sheriff Stacey A. Kincaid, whose office runs the jail, and Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr., whose department conducted the investigation, both pledged their commitment to candor and transparency. So why haven’t they released the video, which sources tell us runs more than 30 minutes and captures much of the prolonged confrontation that led to Ms. McKenna’s death?

Mr. Roessler, for his part, has said the video cannot be released because it is “evidence.” But the videos in Boston, Tulsa, Gardena, Longview, North Charleston, Albuquerque and Prairie View were also “evidence.” The authorities in those places released them nonetheless — and in most instances, they did so quickly.

In a number of those incidents, police and other law enforcement officials appear to conduct themselves professionally. Other incidents are embarrassing for the police, portraying what looks like indefensible and possibly criminal use of force, including in the killing of Walter Scott, an unarmed man shot in the back in North Charleston as he tried to flee from an officer after a traffic stop in April.

In addition to releasing videos, in most cases authorities also publicly identified the officers involved. In many, the officers involved were placed on administrative duty or leave until the outcome of the investigation.

In Fairfax, none of the six sheriff’s deputies who struggled with Ms. McKenna have yet been identified, either by name or by race. (Ms. McKenna was black.) In Fairfax, not one was placed on administrative duty or leave. In Fairfax, mum’s the word.

Here’s the relevant question for Fairfax authorities: Are they content to brand the county and its law enforcement agencies as among the least accountable in the nation?

Grand jury investigating John Geer police shooting hears officers’ testimony

By Tom Jackman

The 2013 Fairfax County police killing of an unarmed Springfield man heard from at least 16 witnesses in its first week of work, and will return for more testimony and evidence on Aug. 17, Fairfax prosecutors said Friday.

The nine-person grand jury will decide whether to indict Officer Adam D. Torres, 32, for the fatal shooting of John B. Geer, 46, who was standing in the doorway of his Springfield home when Torres shot him once in the chest from a distance of about 17 feet. Torres did not testify during the first five days of the grand jury’s meeting, and his lawyer has declined to comment on whether Torres will volunteer to testify. Torres, who has not been disciplined by the police and is on paid administrative leave, has not spoken publicly about the incident. Fairfax County has already agreed to pay Geer’s teenaged daughters $2.95 million to settle their civil suit.

After hearing from the lead investigator in the case, homicide Det. John Farrell, the grand jury heard about 90 minutes of testimony from Geer’s partner of 24 years, Maura Harrington. Harrington said she listened to the 75-minute taped statement she gave to Farrell immediately after being informed Geer was dead on Aug. 29, 2013, and was only asked a couple of questions by the grand jurors.

The next day, the jury heard from Jeff Stewart, Geer’s best friend, and Don Geer, Geer’s father, who were both watching from about 70 yards away when Torres fired the shot. Stewart listened to his own taped statement from that day and said the jurors were engaged and asked him about 10 questions, mostly about where Geer’s hands were when the shot was fired. Torres told police that Geer had quickly jerked his hands to his waist, and having previously shown Torres a holstered gun, Torres feared Geer might have another gun.

Stewart said he told the jurors that “John was very calm. From what I understand, he said, ‘I don’t want to get shot. I don’t want to die today.'” [Those are remarks from Geer reported by other officers nearby.] He said he told the jurors that Geer could be volatile, “but never physical.” Stewart said his taped statement showed he was angry at Geer, and critical of him, and “I’m ashamed of what I said about my friend, but it really has no relevance to the 30 minutes I’m talking about” when Geer was refusing to come out of his house. Stewart maintained that Geer’s hands were slowly moving from the top of the screen door to near his shoulders when Torres fired.

Don Geer testified for about 30 minutes. “I got no impression whatsoever” from the grand jurors, he said. “None of them asked me any questions at all.” He said prosecutors asked him to elaborate on the position of his son’s hands, which Don Geer also placed at about head height. Lydia Gifford, a Geer neighbor and longtime friend, also testified briefly, but she did not see the shooting.

Next came the officers involved, other than Torres. Officer David Neil was dispatched to the domestic disturbance call along with Torres. In his original statement to police, he said that Geer held up something dark, but he could not see what it was. Both Torres and Neil told investigators that Geer had told them, “I have a gun; I will use it if I need to because you guys have guns.”

After several minutes on the scene, Neil was assigned to interview Harrington and report back on Geer and his situation, which he did. Neil testified for more than two hours. He, and all other police officers who testified, declined to discuss their testimony afterward. Virginia law does not prohibit special grand jury witnesses from discussing their testimony, but prosecutors and grand jurors are prohibited from talking.

After Neil came Officer Rodney Barnes. Barnes, a former Navy seaman and trained negotiator, showed up at Geer’s house shortly after Torres and Neil, reports show, and began speaking calmly with Geer while Torres kept his gun trained on Geer’s chest. After about 40 minutes, Geer was shot while still in conversation with Barnes.

Barnes was first interviewed by Det. Chris Flanagan five hours later, reports show. “When the shot happened, his hands were up,” Barnes told Flanagan. “I’m not here to throw [Torres] under the bus or anything like that, but I didn’t see what he saw.” Flanagan later wrote, “Officer Barnes stated that he was upset because he didn’t understand why Mr. Geer was shot.”

When Barnes emerged from listening to his statement on Tuesday evening, his eyes were red and he had a tissue in his hand, as if reliving the moment was again upsetting. He continued testifying on Wednesday.

The jury did not hear witnesses Wednesday afternoon. At some point, prosecutors may have played for them the two taped statements given by Torres in September 2013, in which he said Geer showed him a holstered gun and then immediately placed it on the floor. Torres told detectives that Geer “brought both his hands down really quick near his waist, and I pulled the trigger one time, and hit him under his right rib cage.” Torres, accompanied by his attorney John Carroll, also told the detectives, “I meant to pull that trigger…It’s not accidental…No, it was justified, I have no doubt about that at all, I don’t feel sorry for shooting the guy at all.”

On Thursday, the two other officers nearest to Barnes and Torres took the stand. Officer David Parker, interviewed by Farrell and Flanagan in September 2013, made a comment to them after his taped interview was over, according to Farrell’s report: “‘It’s not good. He killed that guy and he didn’t need to.’ Officer Parker went on to say that he didn’t understand why Officer Torres shot.” Parker was on the stand for about 90 minutes, as was Officer Benjamin Kushner, who told the detectives in 2013 that “he did not shoot Mr. Geer because he did not feel that the threat had risen to the level of having to shoot however he did not disagree with Officer Torres’s decision to shoot,” according to Farrell’s report.

Other officers who were on the scene at Pebble Brook Court that day, as well as an official from the Virginia medical examiner’s office, also testified.

On Friday, now-Capt. Ron Manzo, who was watching the Geer episode unfold from a short distance away, testified for less than an hour. He told investigators in 2013 that Geer’s hands were “at about his shoulder height” when Torres fired. Manzo was the fourth officer, in addition to Barnes, Parker and Kushner, to contradict Torres’s claim that Geer had brought his hands down to his waist in a threatening manner. An officer, a detective and a crime scene investigator also testified Friday before the grand jury finished.

Morrogh said he could not discuss who might be subpoenaed, either by prosecutors or the grand jurors, or when the grand jury might reach a decision on whether to charge Torres. He has said previously that he wanted to use a grand jury to lock in the witnesses’ statements under oath.

Tom Jackman is a native of Northern Virginia and has been covering the region for The Post since 1998.

Fairfax police refuse information to father of police shooting victim David Masters

Where Sharon "Show me the money" on this? Where's the board of supervisors on this?

By Tom Jackman July 28 

A request by the father of David A. Masters, the unarmed motorist shot and killed by a Fairfax County police officer in 2009, to see the investigative files and learn why the shooting happened has been denied by Fairfax police Chief Edwin C. Roessler. Roessler said that since there is no statute of limitations on murder or manslaughter, he will not release the information and cited the clause in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act that Fairfax police use to deny FOIA requests for crime reports in virtually every case, according to areport issued last week by a committee studying Fairfax police communications.

But there is no statute of limitations on any felony in Virginia, giving Fairfax police justification to deny all felony crime report requests forever. And Roessler’s denial letter, received Monday by Masters’ father, retired Army colonel Barrie Masters of Sanford, Fla., gives no indication that the Fairfax police ever intend to change their policy of refusing access to police reports in officer-involved shootings, instead discussing “review by an independent auditor” and “a higher level of accountability for all.”

Masters, 52, was shot as he drove away from Officer David S. Ziants on Route 1 in the Alexandria area of Fairfax on Nov. 13, 2009. Ziants was not charged with a crime because he believed, mistakenly, that Masters was reaching for a gun, was driving a stolen vehicle and had run over another officer, Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh said in January 2010. But Ziants was fired for violating the department’s use of deadly force policy.

But unlike the police shootings of Salvatore Culosi Jr. in 2006 and John B. Geer in 2013, there was no civil suit to force Fairfax police to release information about the Masters case. Masters had named his ex-wife and stepdaughter as the executors of his estate, but under Virginia law they were not entitled to recover any damages since they were not his legal family, though they were his daily companions and closest friends. Masters’ brother-in-law attempted to file a suit anyway in 2011, but it went nowhere.

Meanwhile, Masters’ father watched from a distance, his anger slowly burning. Then in May of this year, Roessler suddenly released an in-car video camera tape of Ziants hustling up to Masters’ vehicle and then firing shots just out of camera range, while another officer screams at him to stop shooting. This outraged Barrie Masters, who earlier this month sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the police seeking everything related to the case.

In the letter below, Roessler denied access to everything. “In an effort to provide transparency to you on the internal administrative investigation,” Roessler wrote, “the Police Department terminated Officer Ziants’ employment on March 24, 2011.” This was publicly reported by The Post in June 2011, though a police spokeswoman then said Ziants had been fired on May 6, 2011.

Roessler goes on to discuss that his department has been working with the Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission “to hopefully develop a process of increasing transparency in many areas including those of officer-involved shooting cases.” The chief explains that he hopes to create a review process so that the investigations are thorough and that once a case is completely resolved, it could be reviewed by an independent auditor. He does not mention ever making any investigative documents publicly available.

Roessler’s letter, dated Friday, was written a day after he was asked by The Post about releasing police reports and said,  “I’m considering a change. There’s got to be more dialogue about how we respond to this. This is a national dialogue, and the profession needs to change. I need to help this department change. This is the community’s voice and I need to actively listen and implement where I can.”

Barrie Masters responded in an e-mail to Roessler Monday night that his use of the FOIA exemption for “criminal investigative files” is something “You and your associates have hidden behind this assertion for almost 6 years now, and of course, you well know that the current law does not say the information requested is exempt from release only that it can be released at the discretion of the custodian.  Your own Police Practices Review Commission, Communications Subcommittee, (which I fully support) has recommended you end the blanket approach to suppressing information under the excuse of your own interpretation of 2.2-3706 (2) and move toward the timely release of all criminal investigative information..It is time that Fairfax County Government and Fairfax County Law Enforcement join the rest of the Nation in advocating transparency.”

Here is Roessler’s letter denying Masters’ FOIA request:

Tom Jackman is a native of Northern Virginia and has been covering the region for The Post since 1998.

Nazi state tactics by a bored police force and the Board of Supervisors say and does nothing to stop it

More Than 900 Vehicles stopped by the cops at one check point in the span of several hours

The idiots on the Fairfax County Police force stopped 969 cars at Richmond Highway and Mount Eagle Drive.

They made 3 arrests for drunk driving but refuse to release information on how much alcohol the drivers had consumed.

The effective rate is less than 0.05%, less is figured on an hourly bases. 

My dog could have made more arrests by walking around the neighborhood for a few hours.

You paid for it and the cops got away with it again.

Fairfax grand jury investigating John Geer police shooting hears testimony

By Tom Jackman July 27 

A special grand jury, rarely empaneled in Fairfax County, began hearing testimony Monday in the 2013 killing of an unarmed Springfield man by a Fairfax police officer, hearing first from a Fairfax homicide detective and then from the longtime partner of the victim, John B. Geer.

The jury is expected to meet at least through the end of this week and then again in mid-August, Michael Lieberman, a lawyer for Geer’s family, said prosecutors told him. The jury may hear from at least 20 witnesses subpoenaed by Fairfax commonwealth’s attorney Raymond F. Morrogh, and jurors could then request additional witnesses or evidence, Morrogh has said.

Geer, 46, was shot dead in the doorway of his home on Aug. 29, 2013. Fairfax police said in January that the shooter was Officer Adam D. Torres, 32, who is on paid administrative leave from his patrol duties but has not otherwise been disciplined by the police and has not been charged. It is not known whether Torres will seek to testify before the grand jury.

Lieberman said the prosecution’s presentation began with Detective John Farrell, the lead homicide detective, outlining the case for the grand jury in the morning. Then Geer’s partner, Maura Harrington, took her turn, with nearly all of her time in the courtroom spent listening to a 75-minute secretly taped interview she gave to Farrell moments after learning that Geer was dead, Lieberman said in an interview.

On the day Geer was killed, Harrington had informed him that she had signed an apartment lease and was moving out. She said Geer called her to say that he was tossing her belongings out of their townhouse, and after one of their teenage daughters also called her, she drove home from work. Soon after her arrival, she called 911 to seek police help.

 Fairfax County Police Officers Rodney Barnes, left, and Adam D. Torres outside the townhouse of John B. Geer on Aug. 29, 2013. Torres fired one shot and killed Geer while Barnes was negotiating with him. (Courtesy of Maura Harrington)

Instead, a standoff ensued, with Geer standing behind his screen door. Torres told detectives that Geer had showed him a holstered gun. While Officer Rodney Barnes spoke calmly with Geer, Torres fired one shot into Geer’s chest after about 40 minutes, police records show.

[From January: John B. Geer had his hands up when shot by police, four officers say in documents]

Harrington was in a nearby townhouse with her two daughters and snapped several photos of Torres aiming at Geer. She did not see Torres fire but heard the shot and said the officers “looked surprised. They ran towards cover.”

After Geer was found dead, Farrell interviewed Harrington in his car. It wasn’t until April 2014, when the Justice Department took up the case and presented her with a transcript of the conversation, that she learned she had been recorded.

The entire tape was played for the special grand jury, Harrington said, and the jurors asked only two questions: When did she get the call from Geer that led to her coming home, and how long did it take to get home? She said a prosecutor asked a couple of questions about her photos, and she was done testifying.

 Geer can be seen here standing in the doorway with his hands on the frame of his screen door, shortly before he was shot. (Courtesy of Maura Harrington)

“I don’t know what to think,” Harrington said after her testimony. “If I was in there [on the jury], I would’ve asked a whole lot of questions. I would want to get it right.”

Lieberman said Harrington’s testimony was “relatively unimportant” because she could not see Geer or hear the dialogue between him and the officers in the 42-minute period between when Torres arrived and when the shooting occurred.

“The prosecutors have an enormous amount of power as to how they present this to a jury,” Lieberman said. “In the end, it’s going to come down to how it’s presented.”

A special grand jury is different than others in that jurors focus only on one case, where regular grand juries hear many cases. The special grand jury for the Geer case consists of nine Fairfax residents, Lieberman said, selected last month by Chief Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Bruce D. White without the participation of prosecution or defense lawyers, as Virginia law requires. When testimony and evidence presentations are concluded, Morrogh will present one or more possible indictments. A simple majority of the special grand jury, but no less than five members, must vote to return a “true bill” of indictment for charges to be brought, or they can issue “no true bill,” in which no charges are filed and the case ends.

Morrogh said in April that he wanted a grand jury process, rather than just making a charging decision himself, because “I want to put witnesses under oath and get their testimony, and I want that done in front of citizens, and have citizens ask their own questions.”

Tom Jackman is a native of Northern Virginia and has been covering the region for The Post since 1998.

Okay, I accept that we have hire dim bulbs to work as cops….but come on…..

 

Four Police Dogs Have Died in Five Weeks After Being Forgotten in Hot Cars

A Georgia K9 officer at Savannah State University died earlier this month after his handler mistakenly left him in a hot car – the second such police dog death in the state this month and the fourth nationwide since mid-June.

Baston, a 7-year-old German shepherd, passed away on July 10 at his handler's home in Rincon, Georgia, after being left in the car for three to four hours, according to police reports.

Authorities say that Baston was forgotten in the back seat of the car after his unidentified handler brought in food to his family at home. The handler then had dinner and fell asleep before realizing he left the K9 in the car. But by the time the handler reached the car, Baston was dead.

The windows had been rolled up and the engine was turned off. Baston was rushed inside and put into a cool bath – but it was too late. Weather reports show temperatures that day reached above 95 degrees.

Baston joined the SSU Police Department in 2010 and helped multiple local law enforcement agencies during his time on duty.

"The Savannah State University family is saddened by the loss of K9 officer Baston," SSU said in a statement to PEOPLE. "He contributed significantly to the safety of all on the SSU campus for the past five years. Baston's skills were also employed to assist surrounding law enforcement agencies and departments."

Baston's death comes within days of the death of another Georgia K9. Zane, a 5-year-old bloodhound with Conyers Police Department, was found dead on the afternoon of July 16 after being left in his handler's car for about 10 hours, officials told PEOPLE.

Zane's handler, Cpl. Jerahmy Williams, had come off a 12-hour shift and felt ill. Breaking his normal routine, he skipped the gym, went straight home and fell asleep, Conyers police spokesperson Kim Lucas said.

Williams discovered his mistake when he woke up, and he immediately called his supervisor, Lucas said. He was placed on paid leaving pending an investigation, but is "completely devastated," she said.

"We fully believe this was a sheer accident," she said.

There are no laws in Georgia that prevent officers from keeping their dogs in the car, according to WTOC. "A law like that would hinder dogs from being effective. They need to be able to be on a scene in minutes," one handler told the station.

Lucas says it's within department regulation to briefly leave a dog in a vehicle as long as it's running – and vehicles such as Williams' are equipped with additional safety measures while the ignition is on, which trigger if the car overheats.

Since mid-June, there have been two other such police dog deaths around the country.

Mason, a 3-year-old "community engagement officer" in Gulf Shores, Alabama, died in on June 18 after being left in the back of a patrol car while on duty. And on June 30, a Stockton, California, K9 named Nitro died after the air-conditioner failed in his police car.

Stockton Police spokesperson Joe Silva shared with PEOPLE what his department is doing to prevent any further K9 deaths.

"Handlers have been directed to leave their K9 partners at home on days the weather forecast calls for 100 degrees or more, until new vehicles are put into service," he said.

Silva also said that while this is the first incident he can recall of this kind at SPD, everyone should take precaution when it comes to leaving anyone or anything in a hot car.

"Everyone needs to remember that dogs are more vulnerable to high temperatures than people," he said. "Animals can sustain brain damage or even die from heatstroke in just 15 minutes."

• Additional reporting by ADAM CARLSON

When I was a reporter covering the news in Fairfax County, we often referred to the Fairfax County Police Department as the KGB. They were the secret police,

Critics Outline 'Crisis Of Confidence' Between Fairfax County Police, Public

By: Michael Pope

July 27, 2015

Leaders of the Fairfax County Police Department are in for some harsh criticism. Tonight, they'll be meeting with critics who have written a pointed report outlining what they call a "crisis of confidence." The document is part of a commission created earlier this year to review the police department in the wake of several high-profile cases.

Back in 2006, Fairfax County police leaders sent a SWAT team to raid a gambling game and killed Sal Culosi. The name of the officer was not released for months. Then, in 2009, Fairfax police killed David Masters, an unarmed driver. They kept the dashboard video secret for years. More recently, Fairfax officials came under heavy criticism for the death of John Geer, an unarmed Springfield man who was killed in 2013.

Now, after a groundswell of criticism, a new report says communications in those cases and others were "mishandled, inadequate and untimely, leading to a loss of public trust and questions about the legitimacy of police actions."

"The message I get from that report is, 'Chief, you need to do better, and I am trying,'" says Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler, who sat down with WAMU to talk about the report and his reaction to its recommendations. "You need more access to me, to this agency and we need to provide more information through social media as they unfold."

But, Roessler says, he will not be releasing the report his department conducted on the death of a woman who died after being hit with a Taser stun gun several times while she was handcuffed. He would also not commit to releasing dashboard video footage or body camera footage of officer-involved shootings. He also wouldn't commit to releasing the names his employees who are involved in officer involved shootings within a week.

Those are the kinds of decisions that Dave Statter says have given the department a bad reputation.

"When I was a reporter covering the news in Fairfax County, we often referred to the Fairfax County Police Department as the KGB. They were the secret police," says Statter, a longtime reporter for WUSA who is now a member of the panel that wrote the report. "Many departments, because of sunshine laws, are required to release that type of information. They still prosecute cases. They still handle the privacy issues. So I think it's important to find ways to do this rather than to look for ways not to."

The report recommends the police department adopt what it calls a "predisposition to disclose," an approach that would presume records are public and that exemptions be narrowly construed. It also says that the department release names of officers who kill civilians as well as video of those events in addition to basic details of every incident and call to the department.

..and the punk behavior continues

Let’s solve this problem once and for all in two steps

PUT CAMERAS ON THE IDIOTS

Fire that “Fuck you we’re never wrong police” Police chief and bring in somebody from way, way, way outside the Beltway to replace him.

An Iraq war veteran is accusing Fairfax County Police of using heavy handed tactics

By ABC 7 News, Roz Plater

July 25, 2015 - 11:13 pm

FAIRFAX, V.a. (WJLA ) - Alex Horton says it started Sunday morning June 14th. He was sound asleep in a model unit of his Alexandria apartment building while his unit was being repaired.

A neighbor thought he was a squatter and called police.

Horton says he woke to find three Fairfax County Police officers with their guns drawn.

"They came in and swept from either side with their guns drawn," Horton said. "Then one leapt on the bed and handcuffed me; my face was down."

Horton continued saying, "My risk of violent death went up a hundred percent that morning and I was doing nothing wrong."

He wrote about his experience on social media and in an Op-Ed for the Washington Post.

Then in a surprising move Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler issued a statement on Twitter saying in part:

"I can assure you no SWAT response was utilized in the response to this call for service. However, the Fairfax County Police Department takes seriously the writer’s remarks and as such, an inquiry by the Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau is being conducted at my direction."

The Chief also seemed to take issue with Horton calling it a "raid". But the Iraq Veteran sees it differently.

"I know what a raid is," Horton stated. "It's when you enter a person's house of building without knowledge of them coming, and you seek to subdue whoever is inside as quickly as possible. And that's precisely what they did."

Horton says he welcomes the internal affairs investigation, but isn't hopeful much will change.

"If they come back and say case closed...I expect them to do that."

His story is getting national traction on Twitter. He says he hopes it will ignite a debate that might prompt change.

"They're going to look at it and they're not going to have any self criticism," Horton said. "They will say this is according to the book, but they will not look to see if the book itself is wrong."

In all due respect, The Post is correct in its assertions

2013 Fairfax Police Shooting of Unarmed Man With Hands Up Leading to New Training, Policies

From Reason .Org

The police's image has to improve, says a communications subcommittee charged with proposing reforms.

Ed Krayewski|Jul. 24, 2015 12:15 pm

Maura Harrington/via the Washington PostIn August 2013, a Fairfax county police officer shot and killed John Geer as the unarmed man stood in the doorway of his home, then waited an hour to provide medical assistance while his family pleaded for help. 

Local authorities refused to release the name of the officer who shot Geer for 17 months, identifying him as Adam Torres only after the family filed a wrongful death suit against the county's police chief. Fairfax County settled for $2.95 million in taxpayer money, but refused to admit any liability or wrongdoing as part of the settlement. 

The county is still, technically, deciding whether to charge Torres, as an internal investigation remains open nearly two years after the killing of Geer. The lawsuit did uncover some new information about the incident—several witnesses, including four police officers, contradicted Torres' assertion that Geer was reaching for his waistband. They say he had his hands near his head.

Local outrage over the slow pace of the Geer investigation, and a lack of transparency from Fairfax county police, led the county to set upan "Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission" with five subcommittees to propose reforms:  on communications, independent oversight and investigation, mental health and crisis intervention training, recruitment, diversity and vetting, and use of force.

A new report from the communications subcommittee decries the "lip service" paid to transparency by county police. Via the Washington Post:

"Communications in recent high-profile use-of-force and critical incident cases were mishandled, inadequate and untimely" the report states, "leading to loss of public trust and questions about the legitimacy of police actions…If the department had policies that fostered real transparency, it's unlikely the controversies in recent years would have lasted so long and there likely would not have even been a call to form this commission."

That's a questionable assertion—Geer was shot while unarmed and standing in the doorway of his home. Had county police been more forthcoming about what happened and that the officer who killed Geer would not face any serious consequences, would that have allayed public outrage? More worryingly, the assertion implies preventing public outrage is more important than adopting new policies that impose accountability onto police officers.

The report did have specific recommendations, including that police should:

release the names of officers involved in shootings within a week, saying the national average is two days, and to immediately release all video and audio recordings if a citizen is killed. The committee also calls on the police to shorten the current 6-20 month timeframe to internally investigate officer-involved shootings and be responsive to questions from the public and news media.

The Torres investigation has been open for more nearly 24 months. Some of the transparency issues, the Washington Post and the subcommittee report note, arise from a state freedom of information law that provides an exception to records in "criminal investigative files," which county police use to reject requests for any police reports. While the Fairfax county government should, theoretically, have the power to order police to limit their use of that exception, a deputy county attorney told the subcommittee it should get the state law changed if they want the practice of rejecting FOIA requests to end. The issue of a lack of transparency in Fairfax police, especially when deadly force is involved, has been a long-standing concern.

The Police Executive Research Forum, an organization of police executives from around the country, had also been asked to review the county police's use of force policies. The review was requested before the Geer shooting but didn't start till nearly a year after Geer was killed. It includes 71 recommendations, such as including "de-escalation," a "duty to intervene" for cops who see other cops acting inappropriately, and a "sanctity of life" statement in the use of force policy. The report also recommends the county not train recruits on how to fire a gun as the first thing in their training.

Why don't we just buy a police uniform for Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh and get on with it?

Fairfax prosecutors back off on calling police shooting victim’s daughter to grand jury

By Tom Jackman

In response to concerns raised by her family, the teenaged daughter of a man shot dead by a Fairfax County police officer in 2013 will not be called by prosecutors to testify before a special grand jury, which will begin its investigation in the Fairfax courthouse on Monday. But she will remain under subpoena and could still be called if the grand jurors seek her testimony, the family’s lawyer said Thursday.

John B. Geer, 46, was standing in the doorway of his Springfield townhouse on Aug. 29, 2013, when he was shot dead by Officer Adam D. Torres. Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh has subpoenaed about 20 witnesses to appear before a special grand jury which will decide whether to indict Torres, including police officers who saw the shooting, Geer’s longtime girlfriend Maura Harrington, and their 19-year-old daughter Haylea Geer.

Haylea Geer did not witness the shooting, which occurred after a 42-minute standoff between Geer and the police. But she did see Geer’s behavior prior to the police arrival, when Geer was tossing Harrington’s belongings out of the house, police reports show. And reports show she also told detectives immediately after the shooting that her father could be abusive when drinking and had once put a gun to her mother’s head, which Harrington said was false.

[Family slams subpoena of John Geer’s teen daughter to Fairfax grand jury]

Harrington and her attorney, Michael Lieberman, were outraged that Haylea Geer was subpoenaed to testify, and Lieberman sent a letter to Morrogh asking that he reconsider. Morrogh responded with a letter Thursday saying that Haylea Geer would not have to appear when the grand jury begins hearing testimony Monday, so long as she was available on another date if the grand jurors themselves request her.

“The grand jury, itself,” Morrogh wrote, “can subpoena any person who they deem necessary to their deliberations. At the outset, it is my duty to begin the process by issuing subpoenas to the primary witnesses to the events in question. I have done so. At this point I cannot anticipate what the scope of the grand jury investigation will be.”

Morrogh wrote that he could not recall the subpoena to Haylea Geer, but would not ask her to testify, though the grand jury still might.

Lieberman said he was glad to learn of Morrogh’s decision. “We appreciate the courtesy,” Lieberman said, “and we don’t think she should ever have to appear. She did not see the incident where Torres intentionally shot her father.”

John Geer, having learned that Harrington was moving out of their Springfield home of 24 years, had begun throwing her belongings outside while their two daughters, then 17 and 12, watched and then called their mother. Harrington returned home from work and when Geer continued to toss her items around, she called 911. Torres and Officer David Neil responded, Geer retreated behind his screen door and, according to Torres, showed the officers a holstered pistol. Neil and Torres drew their weapons, and soon Officer Rodney Barnes arrived and began a 40-minute conversation with Geer before Torres suddenly fired one round into Geer’s chest.

Police reports show Torres claimed that Geer had suddenly jerked his hands to his waist. Barnes and three other officers, plus Geer’s father and best friend, all said Geer had his hands near his head, their statements show.

“John stood there for 45 minutes with his hands above his head,” Lieberman said, “speaking calmly with Officer Barnes, saying he didn’t want to die that day and then he was shot in the chest. Haylea doesn’t have anything to add to that…It is not the job of a prosecutor to put on a witness that is helpful to the defense. And hopefully, that’s not where they’re going.”

Morrogh declined to comment on the letter Thursday. Torres remains on the force, on desk duty, and has not faced any internal discipline either, though an internal affairs investigation began in September 2014. Fairfax settled the family’s civil suit in April for $2.95 million.

Tom Jackman is a native of Northern Virginia and has been covering the region for The Post since 1998.