EXTREME FORCE





Q: How many Fairfax cops does it take to throw a man down the stairs?
A:None. He fell.

On February 23, 1980, two cops were accused of using "extreme force" on a citizen who fled the scene of a minor car accident.  The case was settled in federal court….in other words the taxpayers picked up the tab for the beating and the cops got off free of charge.  In 1980 there were 140 formal complaints against Fairfax County police, more than all of the jurisdictions in the greater DC area.  "Over the years" writers the ACLU "there seems to be a more pronounced pattern of complaints in the Fairfax County Police"
In 1997, the Fairfax County Police posted that fewer than 25 percent of murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, larcenies, and motor-vehicle thefts in Fairfax County were solved.  In other words, 75 percent of these crimes remain unsolved.
In 1979, there two complaints a week against the Fairfax County Police.  The police investigated the police and found that only 27 complaints deserved action….if it can be called action.  Twenty of the cops received oral reprimands and nine were given letters of  reprimand. One was sent home for one day….one day…without pay.