I just want to clarify this before I start: my father is a retired police officer, and I can easily say 95% of all officers are good men and women, who follow the law to the letter and give everyone their unalienable rights. that is supposed to be the American way. The officers we normally hear about are the other 5%. Rogues. Insubordinates. And, yes, racists on occasion. I'm not sure where this officer falls, but we know where he ended up...
the story...
Former Philadelphia Eagle and current Houston Texan running back Ryan Moats and his wife were on their way to a Plano, TX hospital rushing to see her mother, who was slowly dying of breast cancer at the age of 45. In the process, Moats rolled through a red light. An officer pulled Moats' SUV over outside the emergency room. So far, so good, right?
Wrong.
More after the jump...
You'll have to read this for yourself. I'm still a little dumbfounded. From the Dallas Morning News,:
Moats and his wife explained that her mother was dying inside the hospital.
"You really want to go through this right now?" Moats pleaded. "My mother-in-law is dying. Right now!"
The officer, 25-year-old Robert Powell, was unmoved. He spent long minutes writing Moats a ticket and threatened him with arrest.
"I can screw you over," the officer told Moats. "I'd rather not do that."
The scene last week, captured by a dashboard video camera, prompted apologies and the promise of an investigation from Dallas police officials Wednesday.
"There were some things that were said that were disturbing, to say the least," said Lt. Andy Harvey, a police spokesman.
Powell was reassigned to the dispatch department pending the investigation into the incident. For the video of the incident, WFAA-TV in Dallas has the dash-cam footage. An explanation of how everything transpired goes like this:
On March 17, the night of their incident with Powell, the Moatses had gone to their Frisco home to get some rest. Around midnight, they received word that they needed to hurry back to the hospital if they wanted to see Collinsworth before she died.
The couple, along with Collinsworth's father and an aunt, jumped into the SUV and headed back toward Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. They exited the Dallas North Tollway, just down the street from the hospital.
Moats turned on his hazard lights. He stopped at a red light, where, he said, the only nearby motorist signaled for him to go ahead. He went through.
Powell, watching traffic from a hidden spot, flipped on his lights and sirens. In less than a minute, he caught up to the SUV and followed for about 20 more seconds as Moats found a parking spot outside the emergency room.
Moats' wife, 27-year-old Tamishia, was the first out. Powell yelled at her to get back in.
"Get in there!" he yelled. "Let me see your hands!"
"My mom is dying," she explained.
Powell was undeterred.
"I saw in his eyes that he really did not care," Tamishia Moats said Wednesday.
How this investigation goes is going to define a lot between everyday citizens and the police department in Texas, and, if it goes beyond that (and, hopefully, it will), maybe the country.
A very sad incident for the Moats and Collinsworth families, and we offer our condolences.
Thats cold.
Read about this earlier today and was disgusted but not surprised. I was pulled over recently because my "muffler" look suspicious. Ok whatever.
I have always said that police officers in general are underqualified and too undereducated for the incredible responsibilities and powers that come with their jobs. They have powers of arrest and powers over life. So the fact that 95% are able to perform their duites responsibly and in a justibiable manner is commendable. But the officer in this situation is part of that other 5% who has no business wearing a badge or carring a gun because clearly he lacks the intelligence and moral character to even perform police duties to the minimum standards.
I hope he gets fired. That is a horrible story. Racism still exisits
I agree about the minority of police officers who are ignorant and uncaring that shouldn't even be behind a desk let alone paroling the street carrying a loaded gun! It doesn't help that alot of officers have limited resources, mounting stress due to little pay and long hours because of budget cuts that only add to their inability to adequately do their jobs properly. This clearly isn't the case. This officer is just plain ignorant! No excuse. He should be fired but we all know that he will probably just get a slap on the wrist, a reprimand and suspension for a few days with no pay before they let him back on the street to do this to somebody else.
My family members are in law enforcement and I have a lot of respect for those who have taken the oath to serve and project; HOWEVER, this policeman in this case should have his badge stripped from him. When a citizen has flashing lights on a vehicle and pulls into the emergency area of a hospital, something (maybe...the HUMAN side of human beings) should have reminded him of SERVICE that was needed. The officer didn't serve the citizen...regardless of the citizen's celebrity status...he's still a citizen that deserves to be served! An officer must uphold the entire oath...not just parts of it. The ethical thing to do in this case would have been to follow the family into the hospital to see if their claim was creditable. Issue a ticket later if passing the light meritted that, but the man should have been allowed to say farewell to his mother-in-law before she died. Even beyond knowing that there was infact a "code blue," Mr. Moats was still being apprehended. An inhumane act was done to Mr. Moats today. It brought tears to my eyes and I don't even know Moats or his family.
I appreciate you guys reporting this. Hope everyone reads and gets this guy off the streets
Stories like this make my blood boil. This is why I didn't feel sorry for those cops who were killed in Philly and Oakland over the past several months. That may be a harsh thing to say because most officers do their jobs well and are good people.
But these "good" cops protect the bad cops and look the other way when they mistreat citizens. Most good cops know who the bad apples are, but they remain silent behind their shields. This makes all cops look bad. So as a black man, it's hard for me to have any faith in a police officer. I fear an officer as much or even more than a criminal.
What type of cold hearted person would do that.
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