On March 3, 2015 the Fairfax County Board of
Supervisors established the Ad Hoc Police Practices
Review Commission. The Ad Hoc Police Practices
Commission was created after we had a difficult
case... a tragic case. We had the John Geer shooting
which, I think, had a lot of people in the County
say, "Hey should we stop and take a look at where we
are?" There was an extended period before much
information about that became public. It wasn't
until January 2015 pursuant to court order that the
Police Department and the County released any
information. There had not been an appropriate amount
of transparency about what was going on during the
investigation in the aftermath of the shooting.
We realized that we had to make some changes. So it
was not just to the police but it was really also how
our county government operates. The whole Ad Hoc
Commission was about that, and we identified- I was a
member of that commission- a number of
suggestions for best practices. Of the more than
200 suggestions made by the Ad Hoc Commission to the
Board of Supervisors, the adoption of a dual civilian
oversight system comprised of an Independent Police
Auditor and a Civilian Review Panel is expected to
have the greatest sustained impact. As mandated by the
Board of Supervisors, the Independent Police Auditor
reviews and monitors Internal Affairs
investigations into certain use of force incidents. Any
officer involved shooting, any use of force by a
Fairfax County police officer which results in
someone's death or serious injury and finally
any use of force which is accompanied by a public
complaint. And the other role is, in conjunction
with the reviews of these internal investigations, to
make policy recommendations moving forward. Critical to
the role of the Independent Police Auditor is the
unique perspective of law enforcement experience and
expertise. Part of my jurisdiction, if you will,
is automatic. So I know that if there is an officer
involved shooting, that is a case that is subject to
the auditor's review. And I think the thought process
was, even better, let the auditor monitor the
investigation as it is proceeding. The goal of the
civilian oversight is to ensure that the
investigation is being done appropriately, accurately,
objectively, impartially. All very important features
of an objective investigation. The Civilian
Review Panel reviews completed internal police
department investigations from the broad perspective
of a diverse county citizenry. Our charge is to
review investigations that the police have completed
once a citizen has raised a complaint about an
investigation. So the complainant can come before
the panel, tell their story, give us an idea of
why they were unsatisfied with the investigation. We
also have the opportunity to hear from the police
department. We have the authority to ask through
the, Board of Supervisors, to ask the police to do
more. On the auditor's side there really is a need
for a level of expertise. What the panel does though
in having that civilian review, gives the public an
opportunity to participate in a way that would not
happen if it were simply all left to an independent
police auditor, who is a county employee. As Fairfax
County's dual police oversight system matures,
civilians will have a growing role in evolving
their own police departments use of force
policies and practices. The primary goal is
transparency, openness and transparency. That is an
overarching objective of any government agency. It
might be more important for a police agency to be
transparent than any other government agency out
there. So what this does is it gives us an opportunity
to see if in reviewing investigations the policies
and practices are working and if not, through those
investigations, we learn, we can make the
recommendations and the Police Department and the
Board of Supervisors can then consider if there are
some further things that are needed. I think that
people will see that the County is really trying to
address concerns that they may have about police
transparency and police conduct. So it is a way of
kind of bolstering confidence overall in the
system. And hopefully that knowledge, appreciation and
understanding will create much more public trust in
the community as it relates to the Police Department.
What will happen is also the Police Department,
knowing that residents are giving that look over the
shoulder, will be even more attuned to making sure that
they are reviewing their own better, and that is a
positive thing. I think that those two entities
will prove to be valuable in making sure that people
feel well-served. That is really what this is all
about, is that this is a place that we want to be.
We are fortunate, so fortunate in Fairfax County
to have the schools, the amenities, the
opportunities that we have and we have to preserve
that it is ours to preserve and it is ours to make
better.