The Incredible, Ever-Shrinking Digital Fishbowl

Nearly two and a half years after the incident that thrust him into the public consciousness, Chicago police officer Robert Rialmo has been unable to escape the notoriety that follows when a bullet goes tragically astray, and the limelight cast when the magnitude of actions arouses powerful emotions on both sides of the debate over them. 

For those who don’t know, the history:

Just three years on the force, Rialmo was responding to a frightened early morning call for help from Antonio LeGrier, who had been awakened by his son, Quintonio banging a baseball bat on his bedroom door.  By most accounts, the younger LeGrier seems to have been a pretty good kid who had also been going through a very rough time.  Just nineteen, he had been studying at Northern Illinois University until shortly before that night, only to have returned home after uncharacteristic and highly erratic behavior led to a number of run-ins with police and peers at the university. Now, Quintonio was, by his father’s words at the time to the 911 dispatchers and, later, in court, apparently trying to break into the locked bedroom door with the bat while saying, “No one’s gonna mess with me anymore.”    

Rialmo and his partner arrived and were directed to the LeGrier apartment by their downstairs neighbor, 55 year old Bettie Jones.  As they headed toward the upstairs apartment they stopped and then retreated when Quintonio started down the stairs, still wielding the bat, and stepped between the officers and Jones.  What all happened next is somewhat in dispute, but as Rialmo and his partner began backing away it is alleged Quintonio continued advancing on them, possibly raising the bat and swinging it toward the officers.  Rialmo drew his sidearm and fired eight shots at Quintonio, striking him several times and mortally wounding him.

And one of the rounds traveled past Quintonio, striking Jones in the chest and killing her.  

That Quintonio LeGrier was likely mentally ill, and his behavior that night a manifestation of that illness, is not disputed.  Antonio LeGrier later testified that he slept with a board wedged between the bedroom door and his bed at night to keep his son from entering the room.  Quintonio had, himself, called 911 three times in short order asking that police be sent to the home but none were dispatched until Antonio called breathless and scared, about a minute after the third and final call between Quintonio and a dispatcher – in which he claimed his life was being threatened – was terminated after deteriorating into an argument between the telecommunicator and Quintonio.  His voice on the 911 sounds sober and clear, but his words and how he communicates and reasons through the conversation are those of someone perhaps not entirely in touch with reality and rational thought.  Why no officers were dispatched despite his reticence to provide information or answer questions seems a mystery. 

The death of Quintonio LeGrier, in dispute and not recorded on video, generated the expected outrage.  Rialmo was never charged with a crime in the deaths of either LeGrier or Jones (a detailed explanation prepared by the Cook County State’s Attorney can be found here:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-quintonio-legrier-bettie-jones-robert-rialmo-report-20170210-htmlstory.html).  The shooting of LeGrier was determined by a jury to have been unjustified, with the verdict only to have been turned over by the judge.  Litigation continues between the city and Bettie Jones’ estate. 

I have no opinion about Rialmo’s actions or justification for shooting Quintonio LeGrier either way; I wasn’t there, I haven’t heard the testimony, nor have I read the case reports.  I do have an opinion about his choices that led to the death of Bettie Jones, and let’s leave it at that.  I absolutely know Robert Rialmo has lived his life for the last two years in the Incredible, Ever Shrinking Digital Fishbowl.  If the shooting of LeGrier that early December morning was justified and unavoidable given the totality of the circumstances he found himself in, little can be done to avoid the Fishbowl given the nature and expanse of media today, the sheer numbers of people on social media able and willing to jump on a cause and drive impassioned if sometimes poorly reasoned narratives.  If shooting at LeGrier was justified – even if the tactics and angles were not – Robert Rialmo was almost certain to face some criticism anyway, but the tragedy of Bettie Jones’ death sealed it for him. 

That he would spend some time in the Fishbowl was inevitable.

But it is Robert Rialmo’s choices in the time since that morning that have kept him there more or less nonstop, and that provide lessons and reminders for the rest of us.

Working, but on desk duty since the shooting, and facing possible dismissal, Rialmo’s life has seemingly been difficult.  In December 2017 he was involved in a bar fight that led to his arrest for battery by his own department.  Characterized as “an unprovoked attack” by the prosecution, and self-defense by Rialmo’s attorney, he was just recently acquitted in a bench trial only to be involved in another physical confrontation just days later.  It does appear in this second fight he was the victim of others’ aggression, and may have been targeted, but the fact remains that, while already under intense scrutiny, he again put himself in a place (a bar), at a time (0340 hours), and in the proximity of persons who may not have the best interests of police officers – especially high profile officers – at heart (there is some speculation the subjects in the second confrontation may have gang ties). 

And in February 2016, just weeks after the shooting and after having been named as a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Antonio LeGrier, Rialmo took the unusual step of filing a countersuit against Quintonio LeGrier’s estate for “the extreme emotional trauma” the shooting has caused Rialmo to suffer as a result.  An interesting if unusual tactic, Rialmo’s move may be arguably justified but did little to keep him out of the Fishbowl, especially with the drama and developments since. 

-----

Video surveillance has been around for decades.  Cellphones with still cameras built in became publicly available in 2002, and those able to take and share video are now ubiquitous, after having dropped onto the market a few years later. 

And ever since, policing has become a televised event, often heavily (and frequently unfairly) edited event, stirring emotions, sparking protests, and driving wedges between the police and public in unprecedented ways.  To be fair, bad cops have been exposed, questionable practices illuminated, and our ways and means lain bare to a public that can’t get enough of watching how the sausage is made.  The public has also gotten a front row view of how ugly even good policing can look, without the training or experience to tell the difference. 

And, in too many cases, we the police continue to act as if video cams, smartphones, and even the audio/video recorders our own department increasingly strap onto us are strange Martian tools we’re seeing for the first time ever, stunned when we find ourselves pariahs in the public eye. 

Even without the video component, the news media has become so adept at catching and publishing stories about law enforcement that few big stories – whether we are cast in good light or bad – remain local.  The Incredible, Ever-Shrinking Digital Fishbowl is real and it is time we all grasp that we are swimming in it, and start to act accordingly. 

In the follow-up to this article we’ll look at how cops are not just getting caught in the Fishbowl, but oftentimes putting themselves right into it, the psychological overrides of logic when they do, and how to avoid the scrutiny none of us wants.