On
August 14, 1979, witnesses watched as a gang of Fairfax County Police clubbed a
hand cuffed man they had arrested for drunk driving. The man, who was recently released from the
hospital for a gall bladder operation, was bent over a fence and punched in the
face by officers and then slammed on to the hood of his car.
A month later…..at public expense….the Fairfax
County Police launched a public relations campaign to improve their image. The cops had already killed two unarmed and
innocent civilians that year.
Making
matters worse, of the 95 complaints filed against the cops by the people of
Fairfax County, the cops and the cops alone determined that only 27 of the 95
complaints were worth investigating.
Only one cop was suspended…for one day without pay. Another received an oral reprimand.
That
same month, outraged citizens formed a group called Fairfax Citizens for
Improved Law Enforcement. The group
issued a public statement that it opposed the police plan to create a citizen’s
advisory group which it called "Window dressing".
The
few people in the county, who support the police version of a powerless
advisory committee, were, almost needless to say, the board of supervisors….who
shared office with the police. To
appease the public, in February, fourteen elected representatives from Fairfax
County launched an investigation into racism and brutality by the Fairfax
County Police department.
The officials promised that they would examine
the unusual deaths of three healthy men within six months of being held in the
county jail and the men’s accusation of police brutality while they were held. After the first day of publicity photos, the
group was never heard from again and the cops went on doing what they
wanted.