On Friday afternoon, June 5, the entire nation and much of the world were in the second week of revulsion and protest over the murder of George Floyd, an African American, by a white Minneapolis police officer. Then, like a thunderbolt, we received word that a white 8-year veteran of the Fairfax County Police Department was captured on video viciously attacking an African American male victim without provocation. The film showed the officer, Tyler Timberlake, tasing the victim multiple times and, in a move that is still hard to believe in the current environment, pinning the victim to the ground by kneeling on his back. The video can be viewed
here.
The circumstances of Officer Timberlake’s unprovoked attack on the victim were eerily similar to what happened to Mr. Floyd. Fortunately, however, Officer Timberlake’s victim will survive.
These two disgusting events are examples of why we must reform the way policing is done. Many observers probably know that after the unjustified shooting of County resident John Geer in 2013, the Board of Supervisors formed a large task force of very talented County residents to review police procedures and make recommendations for reform. They made over 200 recommendations, most of which have been implemented. Improvements included developing alternatives to incarceration for people with mental illness (“Diversion First”), creating an independent police auditor and a civilian review panel, making revisions to the police department’s “Use of Force” procedures to require officers to seek de-escalation rather than use of deadly force, and requiring body worn cameras for additional transparency and accountability.
Implementation of the body worn cameras recommendation is on-going. Concerns by some about the cost of the camera program delayed full implementation for years. While that push back has made it more difficult than it should have been to implement this recommendation, the event involving Officer Timberlake clearly demonstrates the value of the cameras. Recently, the Board further slowed the full implementation of the camera program due to serious budget challenges caused by the adverse effects of COVID-19 on County revenues. I now recognize we made a mistake when we did not prioritize funding the cameras over other funding for police operations. It is obvious that, if anything, implementation of the camera program needs to be expedited, not deferred.
I hope recent efforts made by the Board and community to reform policing have had positive impacts. Regardless of whether some progress has been made, it is obvious that much remains to be done. For example, data show that while African Americans represent less than 10% of the County’s population, they were targeted in almost 50% of the use of force incidents by County police. Further, while I cannot prove it, I believe it is reasonable to doubt that Officer Timberlake would have attacked a white man the way he attacked his African American victim.
Crimes like the one that occurred last week clearly demonstrate that we still have a long way to go to achieve racial equality and police reform. I am committed to working with the community and my fellow Board members to make real and effective reform a fundamental part of One Fairfax, the County’s policy commitment to social and economic equity. By achieving meaningful police reform, we will proudly send a very loud and very clear message that “Black Lives Do Matter!”
