RESTON, Va. — A public meeting on policing Thursday night in Reston centered around the recommendations of a panel that reviewed Fairfax County police practices.
The Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission, led by board of supervisors chair Sharon Bulova, came together after the shooting death of John Geer. Geer was unarmed when he was shot by police officer Adam Torres, who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the 2013 shooting. The commission released its draft report in October of last year.
“The end goal here is enhancing the trust of the community and the confidence of the community,” said Maj. Richard Perez, with Fairfax County police.
Among the topics: the planned creation of an independent auditor to look into allegations involving police officers.
“The idea there is for the office of the independent auditor to conduct truly independent reviews and be a critical eye,” Perez said.
Also discussed was the recommended creation of a civilian review committee, which would look into use-of-force cases involving police officers.
There were also questions from the audience about the racial makeup of the police department. Perez said the department continues to work on making the department more representative of the community.
Shirley Ginwright, with the NAACP in Fairfax County, noted the progress. “When I became president of the NAACP, we received quite a few complaints about the police department; in the past year, I have not received a complaint.”
While many of the recommendations from the committee have already been implemented by the police department, others — including the auditor’s office and civilian review committee — await a green light from county supervisors.
