Watching too much "COPS"

[rocketraider]

http://www.wfaa.com/video/featured-index.html?nvid=345766

What do you Texas folks know/think about this? Yes, it's meant to provoke thought and discussion.

[Oldsguy]

Not from Texas but fully understandable why the driver did not stop at first. Not sure who was the driver as there was lots of lag for me and I got tired of waiting so didn't watch but first 3 minutes. Probably some good judgment on part of Police would have allowed them to continue. Did the last 12 minutes show anything else?

[wolfman98]

Looked to me like he had nothing better to do and that was his only entertainment for the evening. What was that bull he said at the end that they don't chase for that ( running a red light)? The guy had his 4 ways on , even stopped to make sure it was clear to go through the light and made a B-line for the hospital. The cop was flying to catch up and was endangering other people not the poor kid. He could have written him a ticket after he went and saw his mother-in -law but he showed how big a heart he has for sure. I'm surprised he didn't shoot him when he was argueing with him. What a dumb bag of hammers.

[citcapp]

I am always supprised how many people lack empathy! It takes so little time to stop listen and help.

[wolfman98]

seems that the police chief apologized to the family of his wife and placed the officer on paid leave while an investigation is done. (blows over) It seems that his mother-in-law passed away while he was being detained for over 15 minutes and he never got the chance to say good-bye.

I'm a huge believer in enforcement through the spirit of the law versus the letter of the law (for some who are cooperative/compliant), however, being a cop is no easy task. Many officers are hurt and killed when trying to assess the situation and maintain order through containment. BUT, my fellow rocketeer, THIS officer, in my opinion, was not in violation of any SOP, but in violation of empathy just to maintain control. Ticket or shoooooooooort lecture NOT BOTH!

[Olds64]

That is a real bummer that the cop detained him while his mother-in-law was dying. That cop needs to have his head examined. I would have run the light in the same instance too. To hell with the PD they could have followed me into the hospital and waited to write me a ticket.

[Eric Anderson]

Originally Posted by wolfman98

seems that the police chief apologized to the family of his wife and placed the officer on paid leave while an investigation is done. (blows over) It seems that his mother-in-law passed away while he was being detained for over 15 minutes and he never got the chance to say good-bye.

I saw this on CNN this morning. Do you think if this man was not a pro football player, which led to this incedent making national news, that this apology would have ever been made? IMHO most police officers do their job well and my hats off to them for their service, however there is that percentage that are just in it to throw their weight around at the expense of the general public.

[Aron Nance]

I support any police/fireperson, and glad that there are folks that are willing to do that job, as NO WAY I could! I guess there are yo-yo's in any type of occupation, and this policeperson obviously qualifies. Of course, it does follow that we who live in Texas are ALL yo-yo's, doesn't it! Just kidding. Really a sorry way to get on the Today show this morning; bad enough it was all over the local newscasts last evening.

[Eric Anderson]

Originally Posted by Aron Nance

I support any police/fireperson, and glad that there are folks that are willing to do that job, as NO WAY I could! I guess there are yo-yo's in any type of occupation, and this policeperson obviously qualifies. Of course, it does follow that we who live in Texas are ALL yo-yo's, doesn't it! Just kidding. Really a sorry way to get on the Today show this morning; bad enough it was all over the local newscasts last evening.

Mabey you saw the way my area has made the national spotlight. A few judges up here were taking kickbacks from privately run juvienal detention facilities. Now they are under trial for throwing a bunch of undeserving teens(if there is such a thing) in jail basically, just for some ca$h.

[rocketraider]

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Wish I could remember who said it.

[csstrux]

Not sure what to think about this. The cop has a point. He was a bit of a cold sob, and I think probably would not have behaved much differently to the guy, but the driver WAS lipping off. "Attitude is everything" is very true. If I were the cop, and he was completely disregarding me, and lipping off to boot I would have a hard time overlooking his disregard of the law. Conversely, If my mother were in the hospital, ON HER DEATHBED I would not be too concerned about the color of a light. I would in his place avoided the posturing, and choice if verbage. I have learned that USUALLY a respectfull earnest attitude will get you much farther down the road.

[wolfman98]

I dissagree here for a couple of reasons. Firstly the offence was going through a red light. he did not race through the light but slowly went through the light with his hazards on all the time. When he saw NO approaching traffic he went through the light to save time. Remember they had a phone call from the hospital telling them that she was dying and may pass away within minutes. This info came from an interview from a hospital spokesperson. This slow speed chase ended up at the emergency dept. of the hospital ( first clue ) the first response of the officer was to pull his weapon and point it at Ryan Moats wife and order her to return to the vehicle ignoring the reson that she was trying to convey. he ordered Ryan Moats to place his hands on the vehicle ( at this point he was pointing his weapon at Mr. Moats. The other family member then came around the end of the vehicle and tried to explain why they were at the hospital but was ignored by the officer. They then ignored him and went into the hospital , though Ryan's wife was concerned that her husband was still being detained. Even after he found out why he went through a red light he was determined to follow the letter of the law. As far as Mr. Moats attitude it was not extreme or threatening , all he did was raise his voice to try to get it into the officer's head that she was dying right now. I consider the officer's behavior telling him to shut up continually even when he was complying by getting him the insurance and registration as beligerant. Bottom line is that he did not care that his mother-in-law was dying even after a security guard and nurse tried to tell him that he needed to get in there now. He only let him go in after he finished slowly writing out his ticket and lecturing him about not stopping when the cop was behind him with his red and blues on. Had he stopped then all of them would not have been with his wife's mother when she died. The cop might say otherwise but I believe that he would have made them sit there until he wrote the ticket cause he was hell bent on doing it by the book. No compansion is the bottom line and probably influenced by the color of their skin. You really have to ask yourself would you stop under the same circumstances (that would be being a black man pulled over by a Dallas Texas officer) I was in a similar situation where I was speeding to get someone to the hospital and was pulled over by the R.C.M.P. I pulled over and ran back to tell him what was up , he told me to follow him and I could barely keep up as he was going a lot faster than I was. The thing about it with me is that I KNEW THAT WAS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. Maybe it would be different there.

[Olds64]

Interesting thing is that Moats never once mentioned that he was a football player or celebrity. Kudos to him. It is a shame that this happend.

[redoldsman]

Like Aron, I fully support the police and firemen (I guess firepersons would be politically correct). This guy was a jerk who used his badge and gun to be a badazz. I hope they fire him. There is no excuse for his actions. He has a nurse and a police officer from the adjoining city asking him to let the guy go. This thing has gone all over the country and now people are going to think that all the Dallas Police department are a bunch of rednecks. That is not the case. I thought Ryan Moats showed more restaint than most of use would. I did not see the mouthing off thing. I hope this was just a copy being a Billy Badazz and not a racial thing.

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by redoldsman

Like Aron, I fully support the police and firemen (I guess firepersons would be politically correct). This guy was a jerk who used his badge and gun to be a badazz. I hope they fire him. There is no excuse for his actions. He has a nurse and a police officer from the adjoining city asking him to let the guy go. This thing has gone all over the country and now people are going to think that all the Dallas Police department are a bunch of rednecks. That is not the case. I thought Ryan Moats showed more restaint than most of use would. I did not see the mouthing off thing. I hope this was just a copy being a Billy Badazz and not a racial thing.

co-signed

[z11375ss]

Another case of "Driving while Black."

[Olds64]

The cop might have to start looking for a job as a Wal Mart security guard.

[wolfman98]

It is an unfortunate reality in large U.S. cities that the police approach vehicles with guns drawn , considering the number of officers who do have routine traffic stops turn into gunfights it is understandable the caution that officers have to take. This case though is different in that even when he found out the reasoning for the rush to get to the hospital he did not cut the guy any slack. he stated that he could make his life miserable and I think that he accomplished that buy detaining him anyway. At that point he was abusing his authority to make his point. There was no need to be such an ass cause after he had the guy's licsense , insurance and registration he could have let him go in. But I guess that would put him out to have to go into the hospital to give him his ticket after he finished writing it.Considering how long it took him to wtite a simple traffic violation ticket he must be a little challenged intellectually.Listening to him talking with the other officer at the end of the video he did not sound like the sharpest tool in the shed.

[rocketraider]

IMHO he should be terminated and stripped of law enforcement credentials NATIONALLY. In other words, no chance to work in LE again in this country. Not even as a rent-a-cop.

If he hadn't said "I can screw you over" I might think differently.

I think he would have done the same thing no matter what race his target was.

I figure, young cop, pissed off because he's pulling night shift and bored out of his mind because nothing much is happening. Sees a luxury SUV running a little fast and (god help us all) running a red light after slowing for it and being motioned thru by other traffic (who, seeing the 4-ways, figured there might have been an emergency).

Then, seeing the SUV headed into a hospital, just knows he's got a drug deal gone bad and sees a way to get a good evaluation.

That backfired, didn't it?

I'm not anti-cop. I have friends on the local force who have also said this guy is an idiot. I'm very much anti-ass hole cop though.

We had one here about ten years ago who was forced to resign from a neighboring city force for planting evidence. Then he gets hired here and he was a mortal terror. Hated the car and bike people, and his favorite thing was to detain a teenager in a nice car, search the car and would ALWAYS find something (see earlier comment about planting evidence) to create a hassle.

Stupid little bastid made the mistake of searching a North Carolina boy's car one night, not realising the boy's dad was the chief of police in the small town across the state line.

Let's just say that he was given the option of a full-time desk job to keep him away from the public, or forced resignation.

[csstrux]

He did not seem to be terribly different from what I deal with on a regular basis I run into this, and much worse on a regular basis. I agree he was over the top, but by how much. Is it because truckers are all evil stupid knuckle daggers, Rich, or What cliche did I miss here. Am I missing something? the cop said he would have let him off if he had stopped immediately. I don't know who the other guy is, but he seemed to be sans any modicum of respect for the badge. I have friends that are in law enforcement and they are not at all hard cases, but likely would not be flexible if someone disregarded the lights and proceeded to lip off at them. Again My view may be skewed because of what I do. But some one who admits that a polite demeanor will get you on down the road is a God send in my profession. Hard cases are common on the road. When I run into a cop, I act like I did when I was in boot camp. Yes sir...No sir...Thank you sir, regardless of what he/she is doing. Give them no excuse to be an ass, and let the lawyers deal with it later. Luckily the boot camp behavior has kept me out of more than a couple potentially tight spots to date.

[wolfman98]

Originally Posted by csstrux

He did not seem to be terribly different from what I deal with on a regular basis I run into this, and much worse on a regular basis. I agree he was over the top, but by how much. Is it because truckers are all evil stupid knuckle daggers, Rich, or What cliche did I miss here. Am I missing something? the cop said he would have let him off if he had stopped immediately. I don't know who the other guy is, but he seemed to be sans any modicum of respect for the badge. I have friends that are in law enforcement and they are not at all hard cases, but likely would not be flexible if someone disregarded the lights and proceeded to lip off at them. Again My view may be skewed because of what I do. But some one who admits that a polite demeanor will get you on down the road is a God send in my profession. Hard cases are common on the road. When I run into a cop, I act like I did when I was in boot camp. Yes sir...No sir...Thank you sir, regardless of what he/she is doing. Give them no excuse to be an ass, and let the lawyers deal with it later. Luckily the boot camp behavior has kept me out of more than a couple potentially tight spots to date.

There was no ATTITUDE. It was desperation , and he was excited or worked up because he was told that he had to get there NOW cause she was dying. The thing you did not see in the video was the gun that he had drawn and pointed at first the driver then his wife when she tried to go into the hospital. He was worked up but not direspectfull because I never heard him cuss at the cop or tell him where to go.It is easy to say after the fact that he would have let him go had he stopped just before getting to the hospital , he was less than 1 minute away by car.he wanted to get his wife to the hospital to see her dying mother and if I were that close I would have continued as well. 5 miles away then yeah , stop but he was close and not driving recklessly with his 4-ways on. Come on anyone with a heart would have let him go with a warning , but he kept him there even after a security guard and a nurse tried to tell him that she was dying. Sorry but this guy was just being a real jerk plain and simple. Do you think he would have drawn his gun if it was a 55 year old white haired, well dressed white guy and detained him after knowing the story?

[bittersweet71]

Dirty bum on an authority trip! Paid leave! The scrote bag should be fired!

[wolfman98]

heard on CNN that he resigned today , I think from pressure of the police dept. and police chief. This was after he sent a written apology to Ryan Moats who accepted his apology. Everyone who knows him from his coach to team mates to friends all say he is a class guy and is never in trouble unlike some pro football players we have heard about lately.Koodos to Moats