Outside Consultant To Review Officer-Involved Shootings In Fairfax County

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — The Fairfax County Police Department has asked a consulting firm that focuses on policing issues to examine all officer-involved shooting incidents in the county over the past two years. The request came just over a week after Fairfax County police officers fatally shot an unarmed man who was accused of shoplifting at Tysons Corner Center.

The Police Executive Research Forum, or PERF, will examine the shooting incidents since the start of 2021 and seek to identify any performance patterns or deficiencies in the department, the Fairfax County Police Department said Friday.

Fairfax County has seen a rise in officer-involved shootings, from six in 2022 compared to one in 2021 and two in 2020, according to data on the Fairfax County Police Department's website.

Based in Washington, D.C., PERF is an independent research organization that seeks to identify best practices on fundamental issues such as reducing police use of force, developing community policing and problem-oriented policing, and evaluating crime reduction strategies.

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said the review “will not be a focused, independent examination” of the police killing of Timothy Johnson on Feb. 22 at Tysons Corner Center. The examination will instead be "a broad examination of recent incidents to determine how FCPD can better prevent them going forward," he said.

On Saturday, the department identified the two officers involved in the killing as Sergeant Wesley Shifflett, a seven-year veteran of the department, and Police Officer First Class James Sadler, an eight-year veteran of the department. According to the department, both officers fired their weapons, which killed Johnson.

Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors' Public Safety Committee, applauded Davis for his decision to partner with PERF on an independent evaluation of recent officer-involved shootings.

"This move is consistent with the efforts Chairman [Jeff] McKay, Chief Davis and I have made in coordination with community advocates to increase transparency and accountability in our police force," Lusk said in a statement Monday emailed to Patch.

Such efforts include Lusk's request to his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors to assemble the Use of Force Community Advisory Committee in response to a University of Texas at San Antonio Use of Force study, a community-led review of the police reform matrix, and the implementation of a public safety forum to give residents a chance to provide feedback on public safety in Fairfax County.

"I look forward to reviewing PERF's findings and recommendations so we can continue to work to prevent officer-involved shootings and other Use of Force cases whenever possible," Lusk said.

Last week, the Fairfax County NAACP called for an independent investigation into the fatal shooting of Johnson. The civil rights group also asked for the immediate release of the police body-worn camera footage of the deadly confrontation with Johnson, who lived in Washington, D.C.

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In its final report, PERF will provide Fairfax County police with guidance on foot pursuit policy based on the best ways that other police departments across the nation use it.

PERF will begin its work immediately and will present its findings and recommendations to FCPD in a report, police said. Davis will then share the findings and recommendations from PERF’s examination with the Board of Supervisors and the community.

The 37-year-old Johnson, who is Black, was shot and killed by the two Fairfax County police officers after he was accused of stealing sunglasses from the Nordstrom department store at Tysons Corner Center. Police were alerted to the theft report and then two officers from the FCPD’s Tysons Urban Team chased Johnson through a parking garage, a parking lot, and into a wooded area, where he was killed by a bullet wound to the chest. Police did not find a weapon on Johnson.

At his news conference on the evening of Feb. 22 after the fatal shooting of Johnson, Davis emphasized that Fairfax County has prioritized ensuring the safety of the stores in the area. That's one of the reasons the police department in 2013 created the Tysons Urban Team, a unit composed of about 16 Fairfax County police officers assigned to the Tysons Corner area.

"Fairfax County has had a longstanding commitment to Tysons Corner Center," Davis said. "When we are alerted to criminal activity that is in progress, it's our longstanding duty and responsibility to investigate that."

On the night of Feb. 22, Johnson ran from the county police officers, Davis said.

"I don't know why he ran — and we chased him. And at some point in that chase, something happened that's still under investigation that prompted our two Fairfax County police officers to discharge their firearms," he said.

Michelle Leete, Fairfax County NAACP president, said in a statement that the "tragic killing of Mr. Johnson reminds us once again how unjust America's policing truly is."

"The facts as we know them signal that the officers' actions were entirely out of step with FCPD's use of force policy," Leete said.

According to the Fairfax County NAACP, the police department's use of force policy makes clear that a fleeing suspect who is not a danger to the police or the general public is not cause for a police officer to discharge his or her firearm.

Davis said the bodycam footage of the incident will be released to the community within 30 days of the fatal shooting. Prior to the public release of the body-worn camera footage, the FCPD will share this footage with Johnson's family, according to the department.

RELATED: NAACP Wants Answers In Police Killing Of Tysons Shoplifting Suspect