Thursday, March 30, 2006

Chairman Connolly Responds

Yesterday, we received an email from Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly in response to our original email to the Board on March 22, 2006. Several of you also forwarded copies of a similar response that was sent to community members who contacted him. We want to thank all of you for helping and encourage you to keep it up!!!

We are asking that you email the Board of Supervisors again and thank Chairman Connolly for taking this first step. But in the spirit of full transparency and accountability, ask him to provide answers to the outstanding issues we identified in our response email from March 29, 2006.

According to Chairman Connolly, Chief Rohrer will be contacting us with an estimation of the time for release of the investigative report. We haven’t heard from him yet. Also, even though the Washington Post has disclosed the name of the officer who shot and killed Sal, Chief Rohrer still refuses to name the officer publicly. Given the circumstances of this case, we think this is absolutely outrageous. We also think the public has a right to know why Chief Rohrer doesn’t think there may be a conflict of interest in directing and supervising an investigation of an officer who he has served with nearly his entire career.

By remaining silent on these issues, and lacking any explanation to the contrary, Chief Rohrer leaves the impression that an inbred culture of favoritism and protectionism exists within the Fairfax County Police Department. Please email Chief Rohrer and let him know what you think.

As far as we know, those of you who have contacted Commonwealth Attorney Robert Horan have not heard a peep from him about why he did not feel it was possible to bring criminal charges against the officer who shot and killed Sal. We want to know why he feels that police officers are immune from being charged under the Commonwealth’s manslaughter statutes when these statutes are routinely applied against and result in convictions of citizens who “accidentally” shoot and kill someone. Has Mr. Horan forgotten that he is an elected official? Email Mr. Horan and let him know what you think!

Please remember with any emails you send to county officials to include your full name, address and telephone number.

Thank you again for all of your support. It continues to amaze us and is a great source of comfort to our family in this difficult time.

Sal and Anita
Proud Parents of Dr. Salvatore J. Culosi
salandanita@justiceforsal.com