Nicholas Beltrante is trying to put even more pressure on the Fairfax County Police Department. The Mount Vernon resident and executive director for the Virginia Citizens Coalition for Police Accountability (CCPA) recently filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights division to investigate the FCPD.
“It says that the FCPD is lacking accountability and transparency,” said Beltrante. “The department has not charged any officer with a crime in a shooting death in Fairfax County, going back 74 years.”
The 64-page petition includes newspaper clippings, coroner’s reports and letters from the families of eight individuals who, all reportedly unarmed, were shot and killed by Fairfax County Police officers.
Those include Dr. Salvatore J. Culosi, Jan. 24, 2006; Randall Laroy Rollins, March 23, 2007; Hailu Brook, Dec. 10, 2008; David A. Masters, Nov. 13, 2009; Ian C. Smith, Feb. 5, 2010; Nicholas Allen Kaelber, July 8, 2012, John B. Geer, Aug. 29, 2013 and James Bryant, Oct. 30, 2013.
“We feel the Justice Department should investigate this matter,” said Beltrante, who hopes a response and investigation will bring a change in FCPD “policies and procedures, specifically the use of lethal force.”
Though Beltrante is confident with the petition itself to be “eye-catching,” he acknowledged the slow pace of this type of investigation. “I wouldn’t expect any results for at least a year,” he said.