The Madison Way

By improvingpolice

POLICING THE MADISON WAY

For a great number of years, the following has been the way of the Madison, Wisc. police department. Leading the way were these two statements: one of vision, the other of mission.

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VISION

We are a dynamic organization devoted to improvement, excellence, maintaining customer satisfaction, and operating on the principles of quality leadership. “Closer to the People; Quality from the Inside Out”

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MISSION

We believe in the dignity and worth of all people.

We are committed to: providing high-quality, community-oriented police services with sensitivity, protecting constitutional rights, problem-solving, teamwork, openness, planning for the future, continuous improvement, and providing leadership to the police profession.

We are proud of the diversity of our work force, which permits us to grow and which respects each of us as individuals, and we strive for a healthful workplace.

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Whenever the actions, practices, or direction of the department were questioned, the above two statements and the values they represent was used as a template indicate what the department stood for; “On This We Stand.” It also let us know when we were not acting according  to our values..

In describing the Madison Way, the following points are primary:

•Hiring smart, educated police officers.

•Seeking diversity in the ranks.

•Using a unique leadership style called “Quality Leadership [see below].

•Continuously improving all work systems -- everything.

•Softly handling public protest.

•Assigning many officers to neighborhood-level, community-oriented responsibility and empowering them.

•Conducting on-going surveys of recipients of police services (“customers”) to know how they were doing.

•Pressing to be ever-closer to people served.

•Asking and generously listening to the community and those within the ranks on an on-going basis.

Principles of Quality Leadership

1. Improve SYSTEMS and examine processes before blaming people

2. Have a CUSTOMER orientation and focus toward employees and citizens.

3. Believe that the best way to improve the quality of work or service is to ASK and LISTEN to employees who are doing the work.

4. Be committed to the PROBLEM-SOLVING process; use it and let DATA, not emotions, drive decisions.

5. Be a FACILITATOR and COACH. Develop an OPEN atmosphere that encourages providing and accepting FEEDBACK

6. Encourage CREATIVITY through RISK-TAKING and be tolerant of honest MISTAKES.

7. Avoid top-down, POWER-ORIENTED decision-making whenever possible.

8. Manage on the BEHAVIOR of 95% of employees and not on the 5% who cause problems. Deal with the 5% PROMPTLY and FAIRLY.

9. Believe in, foster and support TEAMWORK

10..With teamwork, develop with employees agreed-upon GOALS and a PLAN to achieve them.

11.        Seek employees INPUT before you make key decisions.

12.       Strive to develop mutual RESPECT and TRUST among employees; DRIVE OUT FEAR.

https://improvingpolice.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/the-madison-way/

STOP SCANNING

The cops can scan 2, 700,000 license plates without getting out of their cars yet they can’t wear body cameras.

Where the hell are our elected officials on this? Where is Sharon “Show me the money” Bulova and her creepy undertakers smile? How about John Faust and his weasel excuses for the cops?  They are nowhere to be found and completely silent on the issue.

According to investigative journalist Stephan Gutowski, the Fairfax County Police, 90% of whom live outside the county, use 26 automatic license plate readers and as of May 2014 have scanned 2.7 million plates (In a general population of 1.1 million citizens)

You don’t think this dangerious? Well, think about this; in 2008 the Virginia State Police scanned plates of citizens who attended political rallies for Sarah Palin and Barack Obama. And then there’s the added question….are the cops selling this information to private companies?

Where the hell are our elected officials on this? Where is Sharon “Show me the money” Bulova and her creepy undertakers smile? How about John Faust and his weasel excuses for the cops?  They are nowhere to be found and completely silent on the issue.

The problem is that the Fairfax occupation force is collecting and storing that information without consent or knowledge of the citizens. True to their mission of secrecy with our money, the county police aren’t telling us who has access to those records and which (if any) of the plates have been used by the cops for any purpose whatsoever. This is, no matter what the cops have decided, unlawful search and seizure.

Where the hell are our elected officials on this? Where is Sharon “Show me the money” Bulova and her creepy undertakers smile?  How about John Faust and his weasel excuses for the cops? They are nowhere to be found and completely silent on the issue.

Scanning plates to compare them to a list of plates connected to an investigation is one thing, keeping that information under lock and key is a whole other issue. It’s no surprise that the FCPD chief, Edwin C. Roessler, probably the most unoriginal thinker to ever work in government, thinks the scanning scam is a good idea as a crime fighting tool and says that the police keep the information on record for a year so we shouldn’t worry about it, because, you know, the cops would never fuck you over.  The problem is Chief Roessler, who really should be replaced has no credibility in matters of the public trust as his miserable record in defending killers on his force proves.  

The occupation force has no means to prove that they have used the collected plates to solve a crime and yet they swear their not collecting this information for profit or to share with the federal government.  The cops have defended their position of spying on the public but explaining that “ many other jurisdictions retain ALPR data for up to two years”

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Where the hell are our elected officials on this? Where is Sharon “Show me the money” Bulova and her creepy undertakers smile?  How about John Faust and his weasel excuses for the cops?  They are nowhere to be found and completely silent on the issue.

In 2014 then-Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli declared that it was unlawful for police to collect the data and keep in on file. The state police SAID they stopped it but the Fairfax County Occupation police, as always, decided they are a law unto themselves and continued collecting information on citizens.  

Earlier this year, the Virginia State Senate and House of Delegates unanimously voted in favor of Senate Bill 965 which allows the cops to use  Automatic License Plate Readers but stated very clearly that the cops would only be able to store those records for seven days, unless they were part of an active, ongoing criminal investigation.

So here we had a bill with overwhelming bipartisan support from the state congress so naturally the Governor Terry McAuliffe would sign it into law right?

Wrong

McAuliffe cut up the bill and watered it down enough so that  allowed the cops to keep records for 60 days.

But why would he do that?

Because McAuliff and his millions of dollars and close friends in the national Democratic Party is feathering his nest for higher office and figures he’ll career will go further as a Law and Order man on the national scene.

 Like Sharon Bulova and John Faust, McAuliff has misread the public’s mood on the cops in the United States, especially with this new generation and their tech savvy and phone cameras who just aren’t going to put up with it.

4th of July DUI Checkpoint - Drug Dogs, Searched without Consent, while ...

Cleveland Reaches Settlement With Justice Department Over Police Conduct

By MITCH SMITH and MATT APUZZOMAY 25, 2015

CLEVELAND — Cleveland has reached a settlement with the Justice Department over what federal authorities said was a pattern of unconstitutional policing and excessive use of force, people briefed on the case said Monday.

The settlement, which could be announced as early as Tuesday, comes days after a judge declared a Cleveland police officer not guilty of manslaughter for climbing onto the hood of a car and firing repeatedly at its unarmed occupants, both of them black. The verdict prompted a day and night of protests and reignited discussions about how police officers treat the city’s African-American residents.

The details of the settlement were not immediately clear, but in similar negotiations in recent years, the Justice Department has required cities to allow independent monitors to oversee changes inside police departments. Settlements are typically backed by court orders and often call for improved training and revised use-of-force policies.

A spokeswoman for the Cleveland Division of Police referred questions to the mayor’s office, which said it would not comment on Monday. Dena Iverson, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, also had no comment.

A Cleveland police officer who climbed onto the hood of a car after a chase and fired repeatedly at its unarmed occupants in 2012 was acquitted of manslaughter on Saturday by an Ohio judge.

By Reuters on Publish Date May 23, 2015. Photo by Tony Dejak/Associated Press.

The Justice Department opened an inquiry into the Cleveland Division of Police months after the 2012 shooting of the unarmed occupants in a car, and issued its report in December. Cleveland is one of several cities, including Ferguson, Mo., New York and Baltimore, that have become the focal points of a national debate over policing and race.

The Justice Department has opened nearly two dozen investigations into police departments during the Obama administration. Federal investigators found patterns of unconstitutional policing in cities including Seattle, Newark, Albuquerque and Ferguson. Federal authorities recently announced they would investigate the Baltimore Police Department after Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man, died of injuries he suffered while in police custody.

In Seattle, the Justice Department inquiry led local officials to overhaul training and focus on how officers can calm tense situations without using force. In Albuquerque, the city agreed to change the way police are trained, outfit officers with body cameras and improve how the department investigates police shootings.

Officials in Ferguson are negotiating a possible settlement over accusations that officers routinely violated the Constitution.

The Justice Department’s report on the Cleveland police was among its most scathing, finding that they engaged in a pattern of “unreasonable and unnecessary use of force.”

Investigators said police officers unnecessarily used deadly force; used excessive force against mentally ill people; and inappropriately used stun guns, chemical sprays and punches. It detailed tactical blunders by the police, and said officers too often imperiled bystanders when they used force.

The Justice Department also criticized a “structurally flawed” discipline policy that it said made it too difficult to punish officers for improperly using force.

The report highlighted one case in which officers kicked an African-American man in the head while he was handcuffed and on the ground, then did not report using force in the arrest.

“Supervisors throughout the chain of command endorse questionable and sometimes unlawful conduct by officers,” Vanita Gupta, the Justice Department’s top civil rights prosecutor, said in December. “Officers are not provided with adequate training, policy guidance, and supervision to do their jobs safely and effectively.”

The report was compiled too late to cover the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was playing with a replica gun in a park in November when the police shot him. Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to charge Cleveland officers in his death or in the case of Tanisha Anderson, 37, who died after she was restrained face down on the pavement.

For Cleveland, a settlement averts a long and costly court fight and the appearance that city leaders are resisting change. Mayor Frank Jackson faces a recall petition from city activists who say, among other grievances, that he has not done enough to prevent police abuses. The Justice Department has called him a full partner in its effort to improve the police department.

On Saturday, demonstrators spent hours marching through Cleveland after a judge acquitted Officer Michael Brelo of manslaughter for his role in the 2012 shooting, which began with a car chase. Though several officers fired a combined 137 shots in the episode, Officer Brelo was singled out for manslaughter charges because he climbed onto the hood of the car after the pursuit ended and fired 15 shots inside the vehicle.

The car’s unarmed occupants, Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, died from gunshot wounds. The judge ruled that the actions of Officer Brelo, who is white, were lawful.

Cleveland’s streets have stayed calm since Saturday, when the police reported 71 arrests, some on felony charges.

Dozens of protesters appeared in court here Monday on misdemeanor charges, some still wearing T-shirts with messages like “I Can’t Breathe,” a reference to the words Eric Garner in New York said as he died, or “Black Lives Matter.”

Most of the protesters arraigned Monday were charged with refusal to disperse, and 35 pleaded no contest to an amended charge of disorderly conduct, which carries no jail time. Twenty people pleaded not guilty and will contest the charges. One man pleaded guilty. More protesters are expected to appear in court on Tuesday.

Talis Gage, 31, a Cleveland native now living in a different part of Ohio, was among those who pleaded no contest and was released Monday morning. As with others who pleaded no contest, the judge sentenced him to time served and did not issue a fine. Mr. Gage said he joined Saturday’s protest because he believed that Officer Brelo was guilty of a crime.

“What happened was not justice,” Mr. Gage said outside the courthouse shortly after his release. “It was unfair for this man to walk away with no jail time at all.”

Mitch Smith reported from Cleveland, and Matt Apuzzo from Washington.

Walk the walk

“To believe in something, and not to live it, is   dishonest.” Mahatma Gandhi

Maybe we need to rethink who we hire.....

For decades we have blamed police work for the abuses by cops on their families and the public in general......but others working in jobs with equal or more stress levels don't react with the violence that the cops do.....MAYBE WE NEED TO HIRE A DIFFERENT TYPE OF PERSON FOR THE JOB, SOMEONE MORE MENTALLY STABLE MAYBE.

Police abuse their wives, girlfriends, and family members four times more than the national average.

Research suggests that family violence is two to four times higher in the law-enforcement community than in the general population.

This is a higher rate than the NFL has.

Two studies have found that at least 40 percent of police officer families experience domestic violence, in contrast to the 10 percent of families in the general population. A third study of older and more experienced officers found a rate of 24 percent, indicating that domestic violence is two to four times more common among police families than American families in general.

What makes this even worse is that officers who are found guilty of domestic violence are unlikely to be fired, arrested, or referred for prosecution.

Stand up, speak up, make a difference

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.” William Faulkner 

.....still, its a move in the right direction

TAKE A CLOSER LOOK

Obama's new rules for police actually ban just one new piece of equipment — the bayonet


Yesterday, President Obama made headlines announcing new rules to limit the federal government's sale of military equipment to local police departments. As The Week's Peter Weber reported, the ban prohibited the Pentagon selling "tracked armored vehicles, weapons or ammunition of .50 caliber or higher, camouflage uniforms, grenade launchers, or bayonets" to police.

Unfortunately, an investigation by The Washington Examiner found that only one of the items on Obama's ban list (the bayonet) is actually affected by the rule change — the rest were already banned, some for more than two decades.

Meanwhile, Obama's rules do not ban the sale of other military equipment, notably mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles — the armored vehicles that became a defining image of police militarization in Ferguson, Missouri — to local police. And though the Obama Administration says it will consider having police departments return some of the equipment they've already received, it's worth noting that some departments have already tried to do this, only to have their returns refused by the Pentagon.

Finally, it is potentially significant that Obama's prohibition targeted the "sale" of military equipment to local police, but past equipment transfers have typically been loans or gifts provided free of charge without a sales transaction. Bonnie Kristian

......you paid and they got away with it (The pay off funds came from a mingled Justice Department grant)

TAKE ALONG LOOK AT THIS CHILD'S FACE BECAUSE YOU AND I ALLOWED THIS HAPPEN AND WE ALLOWED THE COPS WHO DID IT TO GET AWAY WITH IT. WE ARE AS GUILTY AS THEY ARE.

New Low: Sheriff’s Office Claims Infant at Fault for SWAT Team Blowing His Face Apart with Grenade

By Mike Sawyer on May 21, 2015

 “Merely by being in that room, Bou-Bou had assumed the risk of coming under attack by a SWAT team. By impeding the trajectory of that grenade, rather than fleeing from his crib, Bou-Bou failed to “avoid the consequences” of that attack.”

Habersham County Sheriff, Joey Terrell, has allegedly given the most asinine defense about why a SWAT team blew a babies face off. The defense was allegedly used in a federal lawsuit on behalf of an infant hit with a grenade by SWAT during a botched raid in May of last year.

As previously covered, Bounkham “Baby Bou Bou” Phonesavanh, 19-months-old, was asleep in his crib. At 3:00 am militarized police barged into his family’s home because an informant had purchased $50 worth of meth from someone who once lived there. During the raid, a flash-bang grenade was thrown into the sleeping baby’s crib, exploding in his face.

Beyond the disfiguring wounds on the toddler’s face, the grenade also left a gash in his chest. As a result, Bou lost the ability to breathe on his own and was left in a medically induced coma for days after the incident. Bou was not able to go home from the hospital until July.

No officers were charged for their near-deadly negligence, and the department claimed that they did not know that there were children in the home. They defended their reckless actions by saying that they couldn’t have done a thorough investigation prior to the raid because it “would have risked revealing that the officers were watching the house.”

The family filed a federal lawsuit for damages that ended last month in a settlement (paid for by taxpayers) not only totaling less than the amount of the infant’s medical bills, but split up between family members. Furthermore, the conditions of the settlement included restrictions on further litigation pursued by the family in order to ensure that taxpayers, not the individuals who almost killed an infant, will be responsible for any further payout.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Author William Norman Grigg poured over the defense presented in this case by the Sheriff’s Office, and his findings are unbelievable – so unbelievable that we at The Free Thought Project originally thought it might be sick satire. No officials in their right mind would blame an infant for getting hit with a grenade during a botched raid, right? Wrong, according to Grigg.

“The act of sleeping in a room about to be breached by a SWAT team constituted “criminal” conduct on the part of the infant. At the very least, the infant was fully liable for the nearly fatal injuries inflicted on him when Habersham County Sheriff’s Deputy Charles Long blindly heaved a flash-bang grenade – a “destructive device,” as described by the ATF, that when detonated burns at 2,000-3,500 degrees Fahrenheit – into the crib.

Why hasn't this coward cop been arrested? He gets to resign and it all goes away? What would happen to you in this case?

FREDERICKSBURG, VA

A Fredericksburg Police officer has resigned after an investigation determined his use of a Taser and pepper spray on a suspected hit-and-run driver was unwarranted. The whole incident was captured on the responding officers' body cameras.

Investigators say on the afternoon of May 4, 34-year-old David Washington was driving a silver Hyundai the wrong way on Jefferson Davis Highway when he struck a Jeep and kept on going.  The Hyundai had previously run over the median on Route 1 and also knocked down a city road sign.

A short time later, the Hyundai stopped at the intersection of Cowan Boulevard and Powhatan Street. The driver of the Jeep and a witness followed and remained on scene as Fredericksburg Police officers arrived to investigate.

The first two officers on the scene, Corporal Matt Deschenes and Sergeant Crystal Hill, held Washington at gunpoint and ordered him out of his car, but he did not comply. A few minutes later, a third officer, Shaun Jurgens, arrived on the scene. As the Hyundai driver remained unresponsive in his vehicle, Officer Jurgens used his Taser on the man in an effort to gain his compliance. One of the Taser prongs apparently did not make a proper connection and the Taser use was ineffective. Jurgens then used pepper spray on Washington, and he then removed the driver from the car, with the help of Corporal Deschenes.

An ambulance was called to the scene to treat Washington for the pepper spraying and to remove the Taser prong still attached to his skin. Washington was transported to Mary Washington Hospital, where it was discovered that he was experiencing a medical emergency that had begun at some point in the preceding hours.

An investigation was then opened to determine if the use of force was necessary. That investigation determined that in this instance, the officer using the Taser and pepper spray was not appropriate.

Officer Jurgens resigned from the Fredericksburg Police Department on May 14.

“The use of force demonstrated in the incident involving Mr. Washington was not in compliance with department policy or training,” said Captain Rick Pennock in a statement. “We take matters such as these very seriously and require that officers at all times exercise appropriate restraint and good judgment in their dealings with citizens.”

Meanwhile, charges are pending against Washington for hit and run with property damage, reckless driving, and driving on a revoked or suspended license (third or subsequent offense).

In America, cops can murder people and drive drunk and nothing happens, if I'm wrong explain this tape and the Fairfax County Police

Jersey City cop 'highly intoxicated' in traffic stop, but not charged; why not?

Infuriating Video of Drunken Cop, Illustrates Just How Crooked the Thin Blue Line has become

By Matt Agorist

Jersey City, NJ — Sgt. Vincent Corso, a Jersey City cop, was out for a drunken and reckless drive on January 30, 2014, when he was stopped by a Robbinsville police officer.

At the beginning of the stop, Corso tried to claim that he was “on the job,” and that he should be let go.

“Are we OK here?” Corso asks.

“Yeah, just sit in your car,” Robinson Police Officer Shawn Bruton says.

When Officer Barbara Borges arrives, the situation then escalated.

“Do we have a problem?” Corso asks her.

“Yeah, we do have a problem,” she says. “You’re intoxicated and you’re driving a motor vehicle.”

A minute later, off camera, a physical altercation can be heard.

Corso gets out of his car multiple times and walks towards the officers. Amazingly enough, this large man, who was armed, walking towards them and engaging in a struggle, did not cause the officers to fear for their lives and kill him.

He committed several crimes, some that would have gotten the average person killed, including resisting arrest and assault on a police officer. Not only does Corso physically resist, but he was armed while doing so.

The incident is documented in a dramatic video and multiple police reports obtained via a public-records request. The video, taken from the dashboard of one a Robbinsville police officer, shows one officer telling Sgt. Vincent Corso, the Jersey City cop, that he is too “f***** up” to drive, while just off camera there is an apparent struggle after the officers tell Corso they plan to confiscate his gun.

Corso was drunk, belligerent, endangering the lives of all those on the road and armed. However, because of his badge he was given an absurd amount of leeway and special treatment.

Despite being involved in an armed altercation with police officers, this man escaped the situation unscathed. Corso was released without charges into the custody of the Jersey City police department, and he remains on the job.

A subsequent mudslinging and finger-pointing match has erupted as a result of this cover-up. According to NJ.com,

Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Casey A. DeBlasio said the incident did not warrant a criminal investigation into the conduct of the Robbinsville officers.

Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried defended his officers’ actions. Jersey City police told them Corso was on duty at the time of the traffic stop, according to Fried, so Robbinsville officers decided the best course of action would be to allow Jersey City cops to take him into their custody.

“Why he wasn’t disciplined or charged by Jersey City police,” he said, “I can’t answer that question.”

Corso is no stranger to controversy. In 2000, he shot and killed an unarmed 15-year-old boy, Michael Anglin. After the grand jury failed to indict him, buying his story that his gun accidently went off, the taxpayers shelled out $2.4 million.

In the video below, take note of all the actions taken by Corso that would have gotten the average person shot. Is this justice?

The Cops will arrest a cop for stealing gasoline but not for murder in the Geer, Culosi and McMasters killings…..see the logic in that?

Yeah, me either, but you’re the one who keeps electing these people to the Board of Supervisors. 

Believed to be an actual photo of Lon Wolber stealing gas

Police Officer Allegedly Stole More Than 2,500 Gallons of Gas

The 28-year veteran with Fairfax County Police retired after he was relieved of his duties and placed on administrative leave.

By Mary Ann Barton (Patch Staff) 

May 19, 2015 

Former Fairfax County police officer Lon Wolber was indicted Monday on a felony embezzlement charge, allegedly for stealing more than 2,500 gallons of gas for his own personal use, according to Fairfax County Police.

Police said Monday afternoon in a news release that Wolber was with the force for 28 years and was assigned to the Franconia District Station at the time of his “separation” with the force. 

As part of the department’s internal investigation, Wolber was immediately relieved of his duties as a police officer and placed on administrative leave. He subsequently retired, FCPD said in the news release. Both criminal and administrative investigations are ongoing.

Police did not give a timeframe of when Wolber was asked to leave or when he retired. Police did not put a dollar amount on the gas that was allegedly stolen, but gas is currently going for about $2.71 a gallon, according to AAA. Multiplied by 2,500, that works out to $6,775.

The felony embezzlement is in violation of the Code of Virginia § 18.2-111 and one count of Misuse of public funds in violation of the Code of Virginia § 18.2-112.1. This indictment follows a lengthy internal criminal investigation that began last year by the Fairfax County Police Department, FCPD said in the news release.

In October 2014, an employee within the Fairfax County Police Department’s Resource Management Bureau noticed suspicious activity at a county fuel pump location, according to FCPD. Based on this, an investigation was initiated at the direction of Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr, chief of Police. The investigation determined Wolber was allegedly stealing fuel from the county gas pumps for his personal use; to date, the loss has been discovered to exceed 2,500 gallons of fuel.

Law firm charges Fairfax $85,000 to write second letter in John Geer police killing

We had to spend this money because a US Senator from another state was outraged at what the Fairfax County Cops were getting away with because our own elected leaders refused to do a damn thing for us themselves.

While this is great reporting by the post...I never thought I would say anything nice about the Post.....and they should run more of these stories, but do you think the cops care about this? Do you think it it troubles them, even a bit, that we had to spend more on a single letter than we pay a school teacher in year?

The sad truth is it doesn't trouble them in the least because they know that in the end no will pay the piper for this, they'll get away with it again. And their right.  

And once again the question is why have our elected leaders allowed this to happen?

By Tom Jackman

Fairfax County’s decision to hire outside lawyers to handle matters related to the 2013 police killing of John Geer has now cost Fairfax taxpayers more than $225,000, after county officials revealed Thursday that a second letter prepared by a Richmond-based law firm cost at least $85,000. Also Thursday, the Fairfax County prosecutor said he hopes a special grand jury in the case will hear evidence on the case in July.

Geer was shot and killed by Officer Adam D. Torres as Geer stood unarmed in the doorway of his Springfield home on Aug. 29, 2013. No decision has been made by either state or federal prosecutors on whether Torres should be charged, in part because Fairfax police refused to cooperate with a county prosecutor’s request for Torres’s previous internal affairs files, records have shown. In November 2014, as the delay stretched on, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sent letters to the police and the Justice Department, asking why the case was taking so long.

Fairfax County officials said their lawyers had no experience dealing with congressional inquiries, so they hired Mark Bierbower of Richmond’s Hunton & Williams law firm to answer Grassley’s inquiry. Bierbower previously represented baseball slugger Mark McGwire in his appearance before Congress during hearings on steroids in baseball. Bierbower helped craft a six-page letter to Grassley on behalf of Fairfax police Chief Edwin C. Roessler. Fairfax officials later said they paid Hunton & Williams $130,000 for their assistance on the letter.

Then in February Grassley sent another letter seeking answers from Fairfax police about the case. Hunton & Williams was enlisted again to help with the response, and county spokesman Tony Castrilli said the bill for the firm’s legal services was $85,261.73, but that “there may be additional outside counsel bills” from the law firm.

In addition, Fairfax retained attorney David J. Fudala to represent Officer Torres in the civil suit filed by Geer’s girlfriend on behalf of the couple’s two teenaged daughters. Castrilli said Fudala was paid $10,192 and the county did not expect any further charges from him.

The Geers’ civil suit against Roessler was settled last month for $2.95 million, paid by two insurance funds, before Torres was ever named as a defendant.

[Officer claims Geer jerked hands to waist, three nearby officers say Geer didn’t.]

Torres remains on duty in an administrative capacity, nearly 21 months after the shooting. Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh, who originally referred the case to the Justice Department in January 2014 after being stonewalled by Roessler on Torres’s internal files, said Thursday that he expects the Fairfax Circuit Court to begin empaneling a special grand jury on the case in June, and that evidence should be presented to that group in July. Justice Department officials have given no indication when or if they will rule on federal charges, but they said in their second response letter to Grassley that they did not object to Morrogh conducting a “parallel investigation.”

Below is the second Fairfax County police letter to Grassley, at a cost (so far) of $85,261.73:

 (See print or on line copy of the Washington Post)

Taking back the streets from the bad cops, one small victory at a time

President Obama bans some military-style equipment provided to police

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is banning the federal government from providing some military-style equipment to local police.

The announcement is a surprise coming nine months after police in full body armor with armored trucks dispelled last summer’s racially charged protests in Ferguson, Missouri. The White House suggested last year that Obama would maintain programs that provide the equipment because of their broader contribution to public safety.

But an interagency group found “substantial risk of misusing or overusing” items like tracked armored vehicles, high-powered firearms and camouflage. The task force also created new controls for a longer list of weapons and gear the federal government provides to police.

The announcements come as Obama is visiting Camden, New Jersey, one of the country’s most violent and poorest cities.