A New Jersey police officer was charged with assault after he unleashed pepper spray on two people “without provocation,” according to a report from CNN.
The Camden County Prosecutor’s office charged Ryan Dubiel, 31, with two counts of simple assault for his role in the incident while responding to a complaint about possible loitering and trespassing. He has been suspended from the Woodlynne Police Department.
Prosecutors have released police body camera video capturing the incident.
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Dubiel and a fellow officer, responding to a 911 call on June 4, arrived at a house where they saw several juveniles on the front porch. The officers asked for names and identification of the young men, but many did not comply.
After instructing one of the men to stay off his phone, Dubiel deployed his pepper spray on multiple people because the man did not comply. The individual was giving his brother a call during the encounter.
The prosecutor’s press release stated that “the individuals were not observed physically resisting or attempting to harm others or themselves” and that use of the pepper spray was not “consistent with the State of New Jersey use-of-force policy.”
The Woodlyne Police Department was the ninth police force that Dubiel had been a part of. He has been with WPD for 10 months, the press release said.
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New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal stated in a press release that he will be proposing a statewide licensing program to the Police Training Commission and that this incident is an example of why such a program is necessary.
“Just as we license doctors, nurses, and lawyers, we must ensure that all officers meet baseline standards of professionalism, and that officers who fail to meet those standards cannot be passed from one police department to another while posing a threat to the public and other officers,” Grewal said.
