After an 80-mile chase, the blows to the body began almost immediately. The Riverside, CA, sheriffs repeatedly beat a defenseless Mexican citizen on the side of a freeway in Los Angeles County. The blows continued even after the man was down. Then, the same officer turned his riot stick on a woman passenger. She was dragged from the truck.

 Another deputy joined in. She was then lifted by the hair, her face bashed against the hood of the truck -- and then slammed to the ground. A few yards away, a deputy pummeled three Mexican citizens, then rammed one of them headfirst into the shoulder of the road.

 All this was caught live on videotape in broad daylight by a television news crew hovering in a helicopter. The sheriff's department, reacting to public pressure, placed two of the deputies caught in the act on administrative leave, with pay.

 The culprit in the incident, police officials say, is the "high-speed pursuit syndrome." `Nonsense'

 "Nonsense," says Gloria Romero, psychology professor at California State University, Los Angeles. By blaming the incident on adrenaline, "It becomes a sociobiological explanation. I don't buy it. The officers are trained," says Romero. "There's no reason to believe that every pursuit leads to abuse."

 Romero, who is the former chair of the Hispanic advisory council to the Los Angeles Police Commission and a co-founder of the Coalition for (L.A.) Sheriff's Accountability, says she believes the explanation for the abuse is "attitude."

 "The issue is one of attitude, not adrenaline." Excessive use of force is not legally sanctioned anywhere, says Romero. "It is not tolerated. That's why we have training." Brutality, says Romero, occurs when an officer believes the "suspect" has defied an officer and the combination of anger and attitude result in abuse.