More incidents in the Fredericksburg Police
Incident FPD-Protest-Gas-Attack
| Date | May 31, 2020 |
| Time | 08:37 PM |
| Report # | FPD-Protest-Gas-Attack |
| Department | Fredericksburg Police |
| Address | Fredericksburg, VA |
Incident Description
At a protest during the George Floyd Uprising of 2020, Fredericksburg Police used tear gas two minutes after declaring the event an unlawful assembly.
Although the police themselves in an internal investigation ruled their actions were justified, an independent review by the Police Executive Research Forum determined the officers were too quick and too aggressive in deploying gas on the crowd.
Body camera footage revealed during the investigation also showed FPD officers patrolling the streets and engaging in "crowd control" tactics against protesters while carrying large patrol rifles, which is prohibited by department policy.
Several individuals sued the City of Fredericksburg for FPD's actions.
Links
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"Independent review criticizes Fredericksburg police use of tear gas against protesters"
"'At times it appeared the FPD used tools such as CS gas and a sting-ball grenade without considering the broader ramifications of using these less-lethal munitions,' the report stated. ...A PERF review of body camera footage also revealed multiple incidents where police officers were carrying patrol rifles during crowd control situations. The department’s policy is that officers will not carry patrol rifles for maintaining civil order unless fired upon, which was not the case, according to the report." - The Free-Lance Star