Fairfax independent police auditor reports 29 new cases in 2024, urges faster co‑responder rollout

Richard Schott, the independent police auditor for Fairfax County, told the Board of Supervisors Safety and Security Committee on April 8 that his office opened 29 new cases in 2024 and had 100 active investigations at some point during the year, and he recommended accelerating the county's co‑responder program and considering additional policy changes to guide force reviews.

Schott said the 2024 caseload included one officer‑involved shooting opened that year, one death or serious‑injury case and 27 use‑of‑force complaints. He described a backlog of retroactive reviews transferred from the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) in May 2023 that increased the number of cases his office monitored.

The audit office completed reviews of multiple high‑profile incidents during 2024, including three officer‑involved shootings and two in‑custody deaths. Schott said he agreed with the FCPD's internal findings in three 2024 officer‑involved shooting reviews, concluding the officers'use of deadly force was objectively reasonable under Virginia law and department policy in those cases. He also said he completed additional reviews in 2024 and published reports or memos on 18 force complaints that year.

The auditor reviewed a total of 13 of the 16 officer‑involved shootings that have occurred in…