TheAgitator.com
Meanwhile…
Thursday, November 23rd, 2006Ten months after a Fairfax SWAT officer shot and killed the optometrist who was under investigation for the horrendous crime of gambling on football games with friends, we still have no resolution. As they observe their first Thanksgiving without Sal, Culosi’s family is still left in the lurch.
A week ago we learned only that the officer who pulled the trigger will be appealing the results of an internal investigation. We and Culosi’s family aren’t allowed to know any of the details of that investigation. This must all remain secret. Why? To protect the “rights” of the officer.
“It has taken longer than I think anybody would like,” says Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly. “We have an obligation as a county to provide a full accounting to the family and the public, and I believe that will be forthcoming.”Police will not specify what the findings were, or if any remedy has been suggested.
“When the appeals process is consumed, as is the right of the police officer, I believe the police chief will have some information for the public and the family,” Connolly says.
In other words, you just sit tight, Culosi family. Stop being so impatient. Ten months is nothing. They’ll get around to telling you why your son and brother was needlessly killed when they damned well feel like it.
As for “rights,” it’s striking how concerned police and prosecutors become with “rights” when the accused is one of their own. If Sal Culosi had “accidentally” shot one of the raiding officers, perhaps while understandably mistaking them for intruders, do you think it would take police and prosecutors ten months to figure out what happened? Do you think Culosi would be allowed to continue his job — to continue collecting paychecks while they investigated?
