Football Player Pulled Over

[Jay718]

Im sure many of you have seen news coverage in regards to this story... So what is everyones reaction towards the football player who was stopped for running a red light and than forced to stay with the officer outside of a hospital while his mother-in-law died?

[NorwichCadet]

the officer are doing his job. If he pulled over to begin with i bet the officer would've just let him go. But he didn't the officer had to follow him a little bit

[richbrown123456]

Maybe so, but after being told by both the nurse and another officer that situation was indeed true, their is no reason he should have kept him longer.

[Cyngod]

Common sense on the part of the officer was put aside, that's why a public apology had to be issued and he is on suspension. End of story.

[Mercuric1]

I see both sides of the argument. I just didnt like how Powell said "i can screw you over if i want to." No officer your job is to protect and serve not screw people over. It also seems that Powell has a history of being excessive (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/032909dnspo1athomas.3ecf949.html) and needs serious counseling as well as needing to be watched carefully.

[JdotB]

You gotta commend Ryan Moates...the entire time he stayed calm in the situation, and never once identified himself as being an NFL player.

Officers get lied to constantly be people, so I understand at first why Powell did what he did. But, once everything was cleared up with the nurse, he just stayed in that situation with the switch kept on; when it should have been off. His ego hit a high, something you should never let happen to yourself in any situation or at any job, especially in a job such as a police officer.

[NYPD13]

The officers ego did get the best of him and his remarks were uncalled for. His switch was turned on, but that's understanding to a certain point. At the end he was comparing a past traffic stop to this one which was totally different. I know your suppose to learn from other traffic stops and to alleviate different types of situation. I also don't think it was a race issue. The officer didn't say anything racial to him.

I'm sure he was standing behind the open door of his RMP & hand on holster. There was no reason to take his gun out. Common sense should tell a PO that a guy has no weapons waving around, 2 female's going into a hospital, plus there in front of the hospital, a well lit environment, and nurse & security guards coming out should really determine to turn the switch off. The officer was not in any danger.

I just feel bad for the football players family. The whole turning point of this misjudgement is time lost that his family can't get back. I guess the officer lost sight of the good in people and is over compensating with bad judgement. At least he wasn't trigger happy. This could of ended badly.

[Jay718]

one of the best parts of an LE job is the ability of discretion, which i feel should have been implemented in this situation. Although technically the officer had every right to hold the football player there. it is a very touchy subject and one of those gray areas.

[richbrown123456]

Well, it is obvious that this officer was on a complete power trip, if you look at the full video you can see this. He was getting off on the fact that he can boss someone around.

[10-40]

These instances cause problems for us, because they are sensational. The media loves it and eats it up. The video doesn't help either. Unfortunately, this one instance can outweigh probably hundreds or thousands of examples of PO's doing the right thing; escorts to the hospital for mom in labor, husband driving; off duty heroics, etc.

I think it might be a training issue. We are type A to begin with and then we are trained to take command and control of situations. Perhaps we need help with de-escalating situations and backing down when the time is appropriate.

[Brendon]

The Officer did a horrible job of keeping the scene together too. He had his back turned as the guy approached him with the papers from the car. He could have shot him if he was serious.

The guy was unreasonable too. Even after he found out, he still held up the guy writing the citation.

[loring1970]

I'm not sure this was a power trip or just the complete lack of any common sense. I hate Monday morning quarterbacking something, but would it have been completely unreasonable to let the driver go into the hospital and verify his story later after you have his ID and vehicle? I think most of us would have handled this a little differently.

[Cyngod]

I agree with you loring1970..........you follow a person directly to the hospital entrance.........wife crying/visibly upset........the officer clearly lacked any common sense and humanity. He could have dealt with that situation very differently.

[NYPD13]

The news said today that the officer resigned.

[BarXone]

resigned.. or "resigned"

[NYPD13]

DALLAS (AP)—The police officer who pulled out his gun and threatened an NFL player with jail instead of allowing him inside a hospital where his mother-in-law was dying resigned Wednesday.

Officer Robert Powell had been placed on paid leave pending an investigation of the March 18 incident.

“I made this decision in the hope that my resignation will allow the Dallas Police Department, my fellow officers and the citizens of Dallas to better reflect on this experience, learn from the mistakes made, and move forward,” Powell said in a statement issued through his attorneys.

He had stopped Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats’ SUV outside Baylor Regional Medical Center in suburban Plano after the vehicle rolled through a red light.

The officer pulled out his gun and threatened Moats with jail as the player and his family pleaded to be allowed to go inside the hospital. Powell continued writing Moats a ticket and lecturing him even after a fellow officer confirmed that Moats’ mother-in-law was dying.

Jonetta Collinsworth, 45, died of breast cancer before Powell allowed Moats to go inside the hospital.

Powell’s resignation was first reported by Dallas-Fort Worth television station KTVT. He later issued an apology, and Moats said he would accept it.

“I still hope to speak with the Moats family to personally express my deep regret, sympathy, and to apologize for my poor judgment and unprofessional conduct,” he said in the Wednesday statement.

He also said he wanted to apologize to his fellow officers.

A call to Dallas police was not immediately returned Wednesday.

Dallas police Chief David Kunkle previously apologized to the family and said Powell acted inappropriately. He also lauded Moats’ restraint, noting that he did not try to seek special treatment by identifying himself as an NFL player.

Moats, 26, explained that he had waited until there was no traffic before continuing through the red light. When Powell asked for proof of insurance, Moats grew more agitated and told the officer to go find it.

According to video from a dashboard camera inside the officer’s vehicle, Moats’ wife, Tamishia Moats, and another woman disregarded Powell’s order to get back inside their vehicle, and they rushed into the hospital. After Powell yelled at Tamishia Moats to stay in the SUV, she said, “Excuse me, my mom is dying—do you understand?”