New Jersey officer recorded beating peaceful man

June 8, 2:37 PMCivil Liberties ExaminerJ.D. Tuccille

Previous Next

3 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Civil Liberties Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Police Officer Joseph R. Rios III beats Ronnie
Holloway in Passaic, New Jersey

How well do we behave when nobody is looking? The answer isn't important if you're surfing the Internet while the boss is out to lunch, but it means a lot when it involves the misuse of state-licensed coercive force out of public view. And, as in the case of Police Officer Joseph Rios III, who apparently beat Ronnie Holloway with little cause, some people entrusted with authority seriously misbehave when they think they act unseen.

As is increasingly the case, Officer Rios wasn't unobserved. In fact, he and his partner were recorded by a security camera at a nearby bar when they pulled up to the corner in their patrol car and confronted 49-year-old Ronnie Holloway. Holloway wasn't obviously doing anything out of the ordinary in the video. The most animation he shows is when he fastens his jacket -- under instructions from Rios's female partner, he says.

Immediately thereafter, Rios emerges from the car and proceeds to push Holloway, punch him, and beat him with a night stick. If Rios felt sufficiently threatened that he needed to use violence to subdue Holloway, it's worth asking why his partner stood by as a spectator throughout the extended confrontation.

Did Holloway say something to provoke Rios? What words could have passed his lips that could possibly have justified the beating?

Holloway, whose mother says he suffers from schizophrenia, has been charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and wandering for the purpose of obtaining controlled dangerous substances. Maybe he was looking for drugs; it's impossible to tell from the video. But disorderly conduct and resisting arrest seem a stretch for a man who never raised a hand during the incident -- unless police are offended that Holloway's jaw bruised Rios's knuckles.

With increasing frequency, misbehaving police officers have been captured on camera phones, private security cameras and even their own video equipment. Five Birmingham, Alabama, officers were fired after their own dashboard cameras recorded them beating an unconscious man. New York City cops were caught looting a bar by the establishment's security cameras. And passersby recorded former police officer Johannes Mehserle shooting Oscar Grant in the back in a California train station (Mehserle's supervisor concedes that Grant posed no threat).

The world has changed. For better or worse, there are a lot more eyes watching us at times and in places that were previously unobserved. So when will the conduct of people in authority change to match the new reality?

email J.D.: civilliberties (at) tuccille.com