Cases show progress on issue of police accountability in shootings

By Roger Chesley

The Virginian-Pilot

© August 20, 2015

RARELY ARE police officers charged with a crime when they shoot and kill someone. The Washington Post reported this year that since 2005, only 54 officers nationwide were charged in such killings. That's a tiny fraction of the thousands of people shot fatally by police over that period.

So it's noteworthy that two officers were indicted recently in fatal shootings in Virginia, in confrontations in Norfolk and Fairfax County.

In Norfolk, a grand jury indicted Officer Michael Carlton Edington Jr. in June with voluntary manslaughter in the death of David Latham, a mentally ill man, at his home in June 2014. Latham had a knife. Edington faces a motions hearing Sept. 1, said a spokeswoman with the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.

In Northern Virginia, Adam D. Torres, now fired from the Fairfax County Police Department, was charged this week with second-degree murder in an August 2013 slaying. Torres shot a man who had a holstered gun at his feet.

Experts who study police use of force, especially involving African American and Latino victims, told me it's too early to know whether such charges represent a trend. Investigators and prosecutors have tended to give police the benefit of the doubt - no matter the circumstances.

At least one academic said, however, that scrutiny of police will remain high following cases in Ferguson, Mo.; New York City; Baltimore; North Charleston, S.C.; and elsewhere. The "Black Lives Matter" movement is playing a role, too, in keeping up pressure.

Ronnie Dunn is a professor at Cleveland State University and researches policing, crime and diversity. He cited the prevalence of video footage and cellphone cameras in contributing to indictments.

"Video verifies what blacks have been saying," Dunn said, about officers using excessive force - sometimes in minor crimes.

Whites are also victims of police excesses. Such are the accusations in Fairfax County, where 46-year-old John Geer died in the 2013 standoff following a domestic disturbance call. Witnesses, including other police officers, said Geer had his hands up and wasn't armed when he was shot. The case sparked protests.

News outlets reported that Torres, the former officer charged in the case, collapsed in court Wednesday after being denied bail.

Philip M. Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, is a former officer and assisted The Washington Post with a lengthy article published in April. "The dirty little secret that police officers sometimes lie on their reports" is taken more seriously now, Stinson told me.

If these developments change things for the better - good. Citizens shouldn't fear their police departments. Nor should officers automatically get off scot-free.

I'll say it again: The men and women in blue have tough jobs, make life-and-death decisions, and often deal with dangerous criminals. Most officers remain professional in thankless, stressful situations.

Some, however, abuse their authority. They let power go to their heads. They cross the line when motorists and other suspects don't show deference or subservience.

That must change.

Police departments have begun looking inward, examining shortcomings and modifying procedures. Since the police-shooting deaths in Norfolk last year of two people with mental illness, including Latham, the Police Department has trained more than 200 officers in a 40-hour crisis intervention course.

I want law enforcers to have the training and skills to do their job.

But they must face the consequences if they kill without justification.

Roger Chesley, 757-446-2329, roger.chesley@pilotonline.com, pilotonline.com/chesley, facebook.com/RogerChesley, @ChesleyRoger on Twitter

Police Indictments for Murder Are Soaring, But Is This an Epidemic?

Posted by David Love

The number of cops officers indicted for murder, homicide or manslaughter while on duty has soared in recent months, underscoring the problem of police violence—particularly as the killing of unarmed Black people by police has taken the national spotlight.  Reporting for The Atlantic,Conor Friedersdorf wrote that over the past five months, at least 14 police officers were indicted for killing while on duty, which is five times the normal rate.

For example, in the Atlanta area, two former East Point police officers were indicted on charges they murdered Gregory Lewis Towns, Jr.  The cops were charged with killing Towns, a 24-year old father, by repeatedly tasering the handcuffed man while he was sitting in a creek.

In Fairfax County, Va., Adam D. Torres, a former police officer, was charged with second-degree murder this week for fatally shooting John Geer, who stood with his hands raised in the doorway of his house nearly two years ago.  The indictment marks the first time in the 75-year history of the Fairfax County Police Department that a police officer has faced criminal prosecution related to a shooting while on duty.  The death spurred protests and led to a review of the department’s policies on the use of force.

Further, in July, University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing was charged with the murder of Black motorist Sam Dubose during a traffic stop. In addition, a month earlier, a grand jury in South Carolina indicted former North Charleston officer Michael T. Slager for shooting Walter Scott in the back, killing him as he fled after a traffic stop.  A month earlier, Baltimore prosecutors announced a grand jury indictment of six officers in the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody.  Further, a judge in Cleveland has announced he believes there is probable cause to charge police in the death of Tamir Rice, 12, who was fatally shot last year while playing with a toy gun.

According to Friedersdorf, police in America might very well be charged at a higher rate today, noting that over a seven-year period ending in 2011, an average of 5.8 officers were charged per year, excluding non-shooting deaths, while from May 2005 to April 2015, an average of 5.4 officers were charged per year.  Meanwhile, the 14 officers charged over the past five months comes out to an annualized rate of 33.6 charges per year, which is more than five times the normal rate.

This discussion of police indictments for murder comes as large U.S. cities are paying ever-increasing amounts of money to settle police misconduct cases in recent years.  The Wall Street Journal reported on July 15, 2015 that the cost of police brutality cases has jumped in recent years, even before the recent scrutiny the police have faced over tactics.  In 2014, the cities with the ten largest police departments doled out $248.7 million in settlements and court judgments in police misconduct cases, up nearly 50 percent from $168.3 million in 2010.  Those cities paid a total of $1.02 billion over those five years, in cases including alleged beatings, shootings and wrongful imprisonment. Moreover, the total increases to $1.4 billion when claims related to property damage, car collisions, and other police-related incidents are taken into account.

Last month, the City of New York settled with the family of Eric Garner for the high-profile chokehold death of the Black Staten Island resident that sparked massive protests, for an agreed settlement amount of $5.9 million.

Meanwhile, the data and dollar amounts and the charges in these horrific cases tend to gloss over the human toll of police violence in the Black community.  Writing for NPR on August 19, Gene Demby wrote about the toll that reporting on Black death has taken on him and other Black journalists, with the ever-increasing cases.  Demby reflected on the stress–and while he did not explicitly say it, the vicarious trauma–that Black reporters face while coverage the multitude of killings involving police brutality and misconduct.

“Those of us on the black death beat have to make it to next November, and beyond, without burning out. So how are we going to do it?” Demby asked. “While the industry writ large has yet to take on that question, the beat has given rise to its own informal support network — folks emailing and Google chatting and texting to check on whoever’s heading out to the latest conflagration or sure to be on the hook for a long essay.”

Moreover, Demby channeled a journalist from an earlier era who was faced with numerous cases of violence against Black bodies:

“It is with no pleasure that I have dipped my hands in the corruption here exposed,” wrote the 19th century investigative journalist Ida B. Wells, a black woman born in Holly Springs, Miss., in 1862, in the preface to Southern Horrors: Lynch Law In All Its Phases, her incredibly well-researched pamphlet on hundreds of lynching cases. “It seems to have fallen upon me to do so.”

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Feds Investigate Death of Black Inmate in Fairfax Jail

August 20, 2015 12:24 PM

FAIRFAX, Va. — The Department of Justice  says it has launched a civil rights investigation into the death of a black inmate earlier this year who was subjected to shocks from a stun gun during a cell transfer.

A department spokesman said Thursday that its Civil Rights Division, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia have launched an independent investigation into the death of Natasha McKenna.

Officials say McKenna stopped breathing Feb. 3 after she was shocked multiple times while shackled andwearing  a hood as she resisted efforts to move her from her cell. She died five days later.

A medical  examiner’s report ruled McKenna’s death was accidental.

Fairfax County Police completed their investigation last month and sent the case to Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh for review.

Analysis: Wave of Police Officers Charged in Killing – Blip or New Trend?

Posted by David Greenwald

The willingness for prosecutors to charge and prosecute police officers for on-duty murder is one of the biggest changes that has happened in the last year since the fallout from Ferguson and Staten Island. When a Grand Jury refused to indict officers involved in the killings of Michael Brown of Ferguson and Eric Garner of Staten Island, it was largely business as usual for prosecutors reluctant to charge police officers for crimes committed while on duty.

We saw this in Yolo County. In 2009, sheriff’s deputies shot and killed Luis Gutierrez, who they said fled from them on Gum Avenue in Woodland and then pulled a knife.

Six months after the shooting, the DA’s office concluded their investigation and found, “When considering all of the facts and circumstances known to them at the time, the use of deadly force by the deputies was objectively reasonable and justified and therefore does not warrant the filing of criminal charges against Sgt. Johnson, Deputy Oviedo or Deputy Bautista.”

Said Assistant Chief Deputy Jonathan Raven at the time, “The district attorney’s report was based on a lengthy (Woodland) Police Department investigation and we were thorough and deliberate.  We came to a decision and even asked the attorney general to review it, and we also asked the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI to conduct their own investigation, and certainly we hope the community is comfortable with the decision, because that’s important to us.”

A jury in a federal civil rights case in the fall of 2012 found for the officers in that case – the shooting was not captured on video.

In 2012, ten months after the November 18, 2011, pepper-spraying incident at UCD, the DA’s office concluded “that the use of force in this case was not unlawful.”

In their conclusion, the DA wrote, “Lieutenant Pike’s pepper spraying of the seated protesters has been seen by and has outraged millions of viewers throughout the world. Based on the thirty seconds of video that most people have seen the pepper spraying may look like unreasonable force.”

“In evaluating the totality of the circumstances under a reasonable doubt standard, we have considered and given substantial weight to the opinions and conclusions set forth in the Kroll Report,” the DA writes. “In light of this additional evidence, and viewing the incident through the totality of the circumstances, there is insufficient evidence to establish proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the use of force involved in the November 18, 2011, pepper spraying was unlawful and therefore warrants the filing of criminal charges.”

Even on the few cases when prosecutors were willing to seek indictment or otherwise charge police officers for fatal shootings, getting convictions was difficult.

Oscar Grant was shot by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle on New Year’s Day 2009. Officers detained Mr. Grant and others on the platform of the BART station. Officer Mehserle stood and said, “Get back, I’m gonna Tase him.” Then, the officer drew his pistol and shot Mr. Grant in the back. Mr. Grant, unarmed, was pronounced dead the next day. This event was captured on video and widely disseminated.

In 2010, Mr. Mehserle was charged with murder, and he resigned his position. In July, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. He would be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to two years and released in June of 2011, having served 11 months.

These types of decisions represented conventional wisdom at the time. Even when prosecutors were inclined to charge police officers with crimes, they feared juries would side with the police.

However, an Atlantic article this week finds that, over the past five months, 14 police officers have been charged in on-duty killings – a rate that represents five times the previous rate for charging.

This week, a judge ordered Albuquerque officers to stand trial for killing a homeless man as he appeared to surrender. The same day, “two former East Point police officers were indicted on charges that they murdered a 24-year-old father by repeatedly using their Tasers on him while he was handcuffed and sitting in a creek,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

On Monday, the Washington Post reported that a “former Fairfax County police officer was charged with second-degree murder, nearly two years after he shot an unarmed Springfield man who stood with his hands raised in the doorway of his home.”

In July we had the prosecution of Ray Tensing for the killing of Samuel DuBose, in June Michael Slager was charged with the killing of Walter Scott, and in May six officers were indicted on homicide charges connected to the death of Freddie Gray.

The Washington Post cataloguing of police murders found that “American police officers kill orders of magnitude more people than their counterparts in other western democracies.” The Atlantic reports that “the number of U.S. cops arrested for killingsin the last five months exceeds the total number of people shot and killed by cops in England going back five years. This is particularly extraordinary, given how reluctant many U.S. prosecutors are to file charges against police, and how much deference police reports are given in the absence of video or forensic evidence, like a bullet in the back, that blatantly contradicts their story.”

In a seven-year period ending in 2011, just 41 officers were charged in connection with on-duty shootings, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2014, citing research by Philip Stinson, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University. “That figure works out to an average of 5.8 officers charged per year, but excludes officers charged in non-shooting deaths.”

The Atlantic notes, “And while it may be that the five-month period we’re in now will look like just an unusual cluster, if the rate at which cops are indicted for killings continues at this pace, then we’re witnessing a sharp disjuncture with the recent past.”

If this trend continues, then it would appear that the protests and awareness brought by the #Blacklivesmatter movement will have led to policy change. If it reverts, then it will just have been a momentary blip, soon forgotten.

—David M. Greenwald reporting

Torres ends two year “The Torres Two year Vacation Plan”

Torres ends two year “The Torres Two year Vacation Plan” especially set aside for Fairfax County Police who kill people under suspect circumstances.

Officer Adam Torres has left the building…….er….department.

Recreation of the shooting based on a concept.

Fairfax County Police said……24 months…two fuck’n years…. that Torres, the cop who shot John Geer “is off the force”

When asked for a comment, Sharon Bulova said “Pay me. The cops are paying me not to talk. You want me to talk? Show me the money”  

Fairfax County logic

Fireman suggests putting cops in body bags and gets suspended and gets nasty letter from the police union.

Fairfax County cops murder 7 people and go on paid leave for several years and get “A good sound talking too”

Fairfax County Firefighter on Leave After Anti-Police Rant Online

Khalil B. Abdul-Rasheed posted comments on Facebook's Filming Cops page that said "we have to start putting them in body bags."

By MARY ANN BARTON (Patch Staff) August 8, 2015

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue has put one if its firefighters on paid administrative leave while they investigate comments he allegedly posted online encouraging violence against police officers, according to a statement posted by the fire department on Twitter.

Fairfax County firefighter Khalil B. Abdul-Rasheed allegedly posted the following about police officers, according to a report by WUSA-9:

“We have to start putting them in body bags. Pull the cops off, lay on the individual, form a circle or throw punches. Do something… they can’t massacre a mob.”

The post was allegedly made on a Facebook page called Filming Cops, which describes itself as a police accountability movement. It appears that the firefighter’s own Facebook page has been removed.

On Tuesday, Fairfax County released this statement:

The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department is aware of a recent social media post by one of our employees that concerns us. We consider this a serious matter and the situation is currently under investigation. The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department will not tolerate committing or inciting violence against law enforcement officers. Fairfax County public safety agencies continue to have a strong working relationship and solid professional respect for each other.

On Statter911, a fire and EMS news website, in an exchange with founder Dave Statter, Abdul-Rasheed allegedly posted:

“I’m upset and disgusted about the unfairness, racism in this country. As a black we’re not allowed to be angry. We’re a threat because of color or in my case color and religion. Black people are being gunned down… then they (officers) get to walk away.”

The president of the Fairfax Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 77, Brad Carruthers, wrote to the fire department’s Chief Richard Bowers, expressing concern about the alleged comments:

Dear Chief Bowers:

It was brought to my attention earlier today that Fairfax County firefighter Khalil Abdul-Rasheed recently posted some despicable comments on social media, urging violence against police officers. To say that I and my fellow Fairfax County police officers are shocked, angry and upset about these statements would be a major understatement.

As you know, it has been a challenging time for the law enforcement community, to say the least. We’ve been taking a lot of hits lately, from all directions. We’ve been unfairly criticized, misjudged, and second-guessed by the public, the media, and politicians. Even worse, there are some who are seeking to incite others to harm police officers, and several officers have been targeted and killed for no reason other than they were wearing a badge.

I don't like how the game is turning out so I want to change the rules midstream

 ANYONE DOUBT SHE'LL GET WHAT SHE WANTS? WELCOME TO FAIRFAX COUNTY. 

Fairfax wants attorney documents in John Geer case kept under seal

By Tom Jackman August 6 

A top Fairfax County government attorney, who faced termination for her handling of a case involving the fatal police shooting of an unarmed man,wants to pursue a grievance against the county, which is seeking to keep key documents in the case hidden from public view.

Deputy County Attorney Cynthia L. Tianti was nearly fired in March after Sharon Bulova (D), the chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said Tianti had not informed the board that the county prosecutor wanted to meet to discuss the case of John B. Geer, who was killed by a county police officer. Tianti headed the legal team that advised Fairfax Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. to withhold documents from the prosecutor in his investigation of Geer’s 2013 killing, previously released e-mails show.

County Attorney David Bobzien said in March that he was eliminating Tianti’s position as deputy in charge of operations and reorganizing the office while Tianti was placed on leave as the first step in a termination process. But in June, the county restored Tianti to her job as deputy county attorney, although she was assigned to work only on matters involving the Community Services Board, which provides help for people with mental illness and substance abuse problems.

Tianti sought to file a grievance over how she was treated, court records show. Fairfax has well-defined rules on what may be heard by the county’s Civil Service Commission, and the county executive decides whether a grievance can proceed to the commission, an impartial hearing body for county employee grievances and appeals. Court filings show that after a series of e-mails and meetings, Fairfax Deputy County Executive David Rohrer, the former Fairfax police chief, denied Tianti the opportunity to take her case to the commission.

Tianti is appealing Rohrer’s decision to Fairfax County Circuit Court. In that case are documents that apparently involve Tianti’s communications with the Board of Supervisors, according to the county’s filing. The county wants to keep those documents sealed, saying they fall under attorney-client privilege or attorney work product, according to a letter by attorney Sharon Pandak, who is representing Rohrer.

Two people familiar with the case said the communications could support a claim by Tianti that she did nothing improper and possibly contradict the board’s claims that Tianti did not keep them informed about the case. Tianti declined to comment on the case or the content of the communications. She has worked for the county for 25 years and received a top employee award for her work on another case.

Circuit Court Judge Daniel Ortiz will hear arguments Friday on whether to keep the communications between Tianti and the board sealed. The judge has 30 days to rule on whether Tianti should be allowed to proceed with her grievance.

Bulova said of Tianti in an e-mail, “It is interesting that the county attorney who advised the police and Board of Supervisors to not share or release any information is now prepared to release privileged attorney-client information that she believes might be to her advantage. This is a personnel matter regarding an employee who is not happy about being transferred (which was an alternative to being terminated). The Board of Supervisors does not participate in the grievance process and I don’t know what material or documents she wants to have released.”

Asked whether the supervisors would waive their attorney-client privilege to withhold the underlying documents in the case, Bulova said the board is not scheduled to meet again until Sept. 22 and could discuss a waiver then.

After Geer, 46, was shot and killed by Officer Adam D. Torres on Aug. 29, 2013, Fairfax police began a criminal investigation and provided the results to Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh. Morrogh asked the police that November for prior internal affairs involving Torres as part of his deliberations on whether to charge Torres with a crime.

But after consulting county attorneys Tianti and Karen L. Gibbons, Roessler refused to provide the prior Torres files, e-mails between Gibbons and Morrogh show. Morrogh referred the case to the Justice Department in January 2014 to seek the files in federal court. It is not clear whether Tianti advised the Board of Supervisors of those developments.

In September 2014, with no movement from the Justice Department, Morrogh sought to arrange a meeting with Bulova to discuss the lack of cooperation from police in the Geer case, seemingly at the behest of the county attorney’s office. “When one section of the police department is instructed to withhold information from the investigating officers and the prosecutor, the integrity of the investigation is called into question,” Morrogh wrote.

Tianti responded that she was Bulova’s attorney and would need to be present. Morrogh inquired about speaking to the board at a public meeting. Tianti answered, “I did not know of a way for you to do so,” the e-mails show.

When the e-mail exchange was made public in February, Bulova said she had never been told that Morrogh wanted a meeting and that she would have met with the prosecutor.

Various supervisors expressed frustration with the county attorney’s office, and Tianti was placed on leave in March.

Antonio Olivo contributed to this report.

Do you fuck'n believe this?

Fairfax police chief responds to Iraq vet’s complaint

 By Andrew Mollenbeck |@mollenbeck WTOPAugust 7, 2015 8:55 pm

WASHINGTON — Fairfax County police officers acted “safely and lawfully” when confronting a sleeping Iraq War veteran with guns drawn, Chief Edwin Roessler has determined.

The June 14 encounter came after a man called 911 to report a squatter in the model unit of an Alexandria apartment building.

“I’m just concerned about squatters using this as a routine place to squat and then breaking into my office when I’m not here,” the unidentified caller said, according to a recording of the 911 call provided by police.

But Alex Horton had permission to stay in the model unit while his was being repaired. The door was left slightly open, which led the caller to believe he had entered without authorization.

Horton’s subsequent op-ed in The Washington Post about the ensuing encounter compared the police response to raids he experienced in war.

He likened the police response with guns drawn to a “troubling approach to law enforcement nationwide.”

Roessler on Friday wrote to Horton to explain the results of the inquiry into his officers’ actions.

He wrote that they had tried to determine if the man in the model unit had permission to be there, but offices were closed and the security guard didn’t know Horton had been allowed to stay in the unit.

Police also knocked and announced themselves before entering the unlocked apartment, but Horton hadn’t come to the door.

That’s when they entered the apartment, with two officers holding their guns at what Roessler described as “the ready position.”

“Let me see your hands — don’t move,” one officer was quoted as saying as they entered the bedroom and performed a “protective sweep.”

Roessler says the department investigated the officers’ behavior after Horton filed a complaint the next day. The investigating officer found that the officers’ actions “were in compliance with all applicable rules, laws, and regulations.”

Horton’s Op-Ed prompted a second inquiry, which Roessler says determined that “the officers acted based on reasonable suspicion that a crime was occurring and took appropriate actions to safely resolve their investigation,” he writes. “I fully understand what you have articulated well about the officers’ tactics in this situation.”

He ended the letter by thanking Horton for his own service.

Fairfax County has faced its own share of scrutiny over its use of force policies since the death of John Geer, who was shot outside his Springfield home in 2013 by Officer Adam Torres. It took a lawsuit before police would release Torres’ name and prosecutors still have not decided whether he should face criminal charges.

The county announced Friday that Torres no longer works

Game changer! Fairfax county cop guns down dog, dog gets blamed

WHAT'S THE POINT IN POSTING THE ENTIRE STORY?  

Police Officer Cleared in 2014 Shooting of Dog

An investigation found "no basis for criminal liability," according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

When asked how she would handle the cops investigating the cops and once again finding the cops innocent, Sharon "Show me the money" Bulova said  “I will form a toothless and costly committee to make suggestion to the police department which the police department will reject but that that way I’ll look like I actually got off my fat ass and did something"

Give these young people a medal for being good and concerned citizens.

THANK YOU  MIKE CURTIS AND LORELEI MCFLY (really?) FOR ORGANIZING THIS EVENT. YOU ARE MAKING YOUR NATION A BETTER PLACE 

 'Night Out Against Police Crime' Held By Activists In Fairfax County

By: Michael Pope

August 5, 2015

WAMU/Michael Pope

Protesters gather outside the Fairfax County Police Department to stage an event they called a Night Out Against Police Crime.

Across America, police officers and their leaders were out Tuesday night celebrating National Night Out, a celebration of police traditionally held on the first Tuesday in August. But a growing sense of distrust of Fairfax County Police has created a rival event in Fairfax County, a Night Out Against Police Crime. The idea is to call attention to a series of high-profile cases in Fairfax County.

"Obviously the police don't want themselves to be the focus," says Mike Curtis, one of the chief organizers of the protest, which took place outside police headquarters. "But they are responsible for a great deal of serious crime here in Fairfax County with the murder of no less than seven innocent unarmed people in recent years. So we think it's important to highlight that as well."

 Mike Curtis and Lorelei McFly organized the event.

One of the people attending the protest was Chuck Modaino. He came from Silver Spring. So what brought him all the way out to Fairfax County?

"The idea that you can go and kill someone in broad daylight, sometimes even on video, and not get arrested for it is so outrageous that the better question is why aren't more people out here?" asks Modaino.

Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler acknowledges his department has suffered a crisis of confidence since the death of John Geer, the unarmed man from Springfield whose death in 2013 prompted the creation of an Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission. The activists behind Tuesday's event began organizing after the death of Geer, using social media and public rallies to draw attention to the case and the lack of information available from the Fairfax County Police Department.

"The pressure that we've put on has helped lead to the establishment of the Ad Hoc Commission, and it's definitely raised awareness in the community," says Lorelei McFly, one of the chief organizers of the event. "Slowly our officials may be getting the idea that they can't just wait for this to blow over anymore."

By Election Day, when all seats on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will be up for election, the commission is set to issue a series of recommendations. Those recommendations could radically transform how the department works and what kind of details it releases to the public.

Here's a great idea!

A task force looking to cut as much as $100 million from the budget of one of the nation’s largest school systems has suggested that major savings could come from getting rid of all school sports, limiting extracurricular activities and increasing class sizes.

Here’s an idea……take it from the cops…..take the money from the cops budget…..if they have enough to keep a cold blooded killer on the payroll for almost three years while he sits around at home watching TV and can afford $3,000,000 to John Geer’s family and another $1,000,000 to Sal Polisi’s family….take the money from the cops and give it to the kids.

They won’t use it to kill anybody.

the cost of a free press

Prostitution Charge Dropped in Case an Albany Journalist Called Retaliation

By JESSE McKINLEY

 AUG. 9, 2015

ALBANY — In March 2012, just blocks from the State Capitol, several law enforcement officers stormed into a second-floor spa and arrested a woman, accusing her of soliciting money for sexual acts. An invasive strip search was done, thousands of dollars were seized and the woman, Min Liu, was soon charged with prostitution.

But it was the woman’s employer at the Green Garden Asian Spa who provoked the uproar: Bin Cheng, the wife of J. Robert Port, who was the investigations editor at The Times Union of Albany.

Almost as soon as Ms. Liu was arrested, Mr. Port accused the police of targeting his wife’s business in retaliation for a series of articles he had shepherded into the newspaper that called into question the tactics and practices of an Albany County sheriff’s drug unit.

“I already knew that this unit was investigating my wife,” said Mr. Port, 59, who is also a former adjunct journalism professor at Columbia University. “I knew they were watching her.”

Ms. Cheng, 46, was not at the spa during the raid, nor was she ever charged with any crime, but the implication that she was involved in nefarious activities hovered over Mr. Port’s family, he said.

“This went on for three years, a cloud over a person’s head and a cloud hanging over my wife’s business,” he said, reiterating that he believed the arrest was related to “the work I was doing with the Albany Times Union investigating local police.”

A city court judge in Albany last week dismissed the charge, a misdemeanor, against Ms. Liu, after county prosecutors concluded that the case should be dropped “in the interest of justice.”

The order, by Judge Gary F. Stiglmeier, outlined the reasons for the dismissal, including the lack of witnesses “or other evidence of the defendant’s guilt,” other than the testimony of the city detective who alleged the crime. That detective, Scott D. Gavigan, had been working with the unit Mr. Port had helped investigate, and was in the spa with Ms. Liu at the time of the sting.

Ms. Liu’s lawyer, Kevin A. Luibrand, hailed the decision, which was made on July 28, as long overdue and said that his client — a 56-year-old Chinese immigrant and grandmother with no previous criminal record — had endured a cavity search during the arrest, and “continued to experience significant distress as a result of the charges,” including hindering her ability to find work.

In his legal filings and an interview last week, Mr. Luibrand said there was no case against his client: No “buy money” for the alleged sexual acts was found, nor had Detective Gavigan produced a recording of the transaction he asserted had occurred. Mr. Luibrand also said the police had at one point falsely suggested drug activity was taking place at the spa.

“The overkill on this case was profound,” he said.

Both Mr. Luibrand and Mr. Port said they believed that the Albany police had arrested Ms. Liu, who always asserted her innocence, because they mistook her for Mr. Port’s wife.

 “They didn’t know one Chinese woman from another,” Mr. Port said.

Steven A. Smith Jr., a spokesman for the Albany Police Department, had no comment on the particulars of the case, but suggested that it would approach such cases differently.

“If we had to take on one of these operations in the future,” he said, “we would certainly weigh out our investigatory options before making our decisions.”

A spokeswoman for David Soares, the Albany County district attorney, said the decision to support the dismissal came after evaluating the evidence and finding “significant proof problems.”

The drug unit that Mr. Port and Brendan J. Lyons, a reporter, investigated was disbanded around the same time as the raid at the Green Garden, according to Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple. The raid also prompted an internal review. Sheriff Apple’s office did not respond to requests for comment about the Green Garden case, the drug unit or the findings of that internal investigation.

Mr. Luibrand said Ms. Liu, who lives in Flushing, Queens, did not speak English fluently but was a longtime aesthetician and was pleased that her name had been cleared. “She’s thrilled by it, she’s happy,” he said.

Mr. Port, who left The Times Union in 2013, said on Wednesday that his wife, who declined to be interviewed, also felt relieved. He said that her business had expanded to four spas in the capital region, with eight employees total.

Still, while he and Ms. Cheng have tried to move on, Mr. Port said that the case had left him with even more questions about law enforcement behavior.

“I think police need to behave themselves,” he said. “And police need to be policed.”

Ho