Fairfax County Cops' Use Of Force Exceeded Expected Levels: Study

FAIRFAX, VA — Fairfax County police officers used higher levels of force against Black and white suspects than would normally be expected over a three-year period, according to a recently completed university study.

However, while force used against Black people by police was not only higher than expected, African Americans were also subjected to more severe types of force than others, including having guns pointed at them by officers, the study showed.

The study, which was completed by the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, was completed this month through an agreement between the university and Fairfax County’s Office of Independent Police Auditor. The county commissioned the study because officials had seen a persistent racial disparity in the police department's use of force statistics, the Washington Post reported.

In 2020, latest statistics showed that 34 percent of those subjected to the use of force by police in Fairfax County were Black despite African Americans making up only 10 percent of the county's population, the Post reported.

The study reviewed 1,360 cases of force used by police officers across Fairfax County and relied on a series of benchmarks that were used for comparison. The cases studies took place between 2016 and 2018 and determined that in total, the Fairfax County Police Department used force against 576 Black residents, 519 white residents, 28 Hispanic people and 45 Asian people, according to the study.

The benchmarks used for comparison among groups included:

• All criminal suspects
• Violent crime suspects
• Violent crime suspects plus those involved in weapons offenses and simple assault
• All those arrested
• Those arrested for violent offenses
• Those arrested for violent offenses plus those involved in weapons offenses and simple assault

The findings were reported to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisor’s Public Safety Commission Tuesday night, WTOP reported on Wednesday.

The study found that across Fairfax County, forced was used against white civilians at rates that exceeded their representation as suspects and arrestees in Fairfax County in all six benchmarks. In comparison, forced was used against Black civilians at rates that exceeded their representation in four of the six benchmarks, including all those involving those who were arrested.

Police used lower rates of forced against Hispanic residents across all of the benchmarks, the study found while the rate of forced being used against Asian civilians exceeded normal rates across the benchmarks except for those who were arrested, according to the study.

When comparing forced used against white residents as opposed to minorities, all but one case demonstrated, the rate of forced used against minorities was lower than those used against whites, the study found.

White police officers were responsible for use of force in 69 percent of the cases, the study showed while male officers were involved in 83 percent of the cases. Use of force cases involving female officers only represented about 3 percent of the total cases, the study showed.

In a presentation to the board on Tuesday, Michael Smith, who led the study for the Texas university, said that the disparity involving white residents was surprising.

“It’s unfortunate and also not atypical at all to find overrepresentation of African Americans across a variety of analyses in police outcomes, whether it’s force or any other outcome, that’s not an uncommon finding,” Smith told the board, according to WTOP News. “So, I wasn’t surprised by that. I was surprised by the white finding.”

He added: “Black civilians were at greater risk for having force used against them, all other things being equal in arrest situations.”

The board learned that the study found that three police stations within the Mount Vernon District (Mount Vernon, Franconia and West Springfield) were responsible for the disproportionate use of force.

In a statement regarding the study’s findings, Fairfax County Chief of Police Kevin Davis said that the department has already started to look into recommendations suggested by researchers. Recommendations included beginning better de-escalation training for officers, cutting down on the number of chases involving criminals unless they pose an immediate danger to the public and rotating police officers out of high-crime areas.

“This report will serve as a roadmap to help ensure that we continue to train, mentor and lead our police officers with an eye towards constitutional and community-driven policing, predicated on fairness, trust and respect,” Davis said.