Really disturbing Police, citizen confrontation

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

This is VERY disturbing. The video...damn.

 

As trite as the arguement has become...it looks like a black white issue.

 

NFL Player Pulled Over Outside Hospital While Rushing to be with Dying Relative

 

06:39 AM CDT on Thursday, March 26, 2009

By STEVE THOMPSON and TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News

 

 

As he rushed his family to the hospital, 26-year-old NFL running back Ryan Moats rolled through a red light. A Dallas police officer pulled their SUV over outside the emergency room.

 

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.

 

Moats' mother-in-law, Jonetta Collinsworth, was struggling at 45 with breast cancer that had spread throughout her body. Family members rushed to her bedside from as far away as California.

 

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 at Preston Road, 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.

 

Tamishia Moats and her great-aunt ignored the officer and headed into the hospital. Ryan Moats stayed behind with the father of the dying woman.

 

"I waited until no traffic was coming," Moats told Powell, explaining his passage through the red light. "I got seconds before she's gone, man."

 

Powell demanded his license and proof of insurance. Moats produced his license but said he didn't know where the insurance paperwork was.

 

"Just give me a ticket or whatever," he said, beginning to sound exasperated and a little argumentative.

 

"Shut your mouth," Powell told him. "You can cooperate and settle down, or I can just take you to jail for running a red light."

 

There was more back and forth.

 

"If you're going to give me a ticket, give me a ticket."

 

"Your attitude says that you need one."

 

"All I'm asking you is just to hurry up."

 

Powell began a lecture.

 

"If you want to keep this going, I'll just put you in handcuffs," the officer said, "and I'll take you to jail for running a red light."

 

Powell made several more points, including that the SUV was illegally parked. Moats replied "Yes sir" to each.

 

"Understand what I can do," Powell concluded. "I can tow your truck. I can charge you with fleeing. I can make your night very difficult."

 

"I understand," Moats responded. "I hope you'll be a great person and not do that."

 

Hospital security guards arrived and told Powell that the Moatses' relative really was upstairs dying.

 

Powell spent several minutes inside his squad car, in part to check Moats for outstanding warrants. He found none.

 

Another hospital staffer came out and spoke with a Plano police officer who had arrived.

 

"Hey, that's the nurse," the Plano officer told Powell. "She said that the mom's dying right now, and she's wanting to know if they can get him up there before she dies."

 

"All right," Powell replied. "I'm almost done."

 

As Moats signed the ticket, Powell continued his lecture.

 

"Attitude's everything," he said. "All you had to do is stop, tell me what was going on. More than likely, I would have let you go."

 

It had been about 13 minutes.

 

Moats and Collinsworth's father went into the hospital, where they found Collinsworth had died, with her daughter at her side.

 

The Moatses, who are black, said Wednesday that they can't help but think that race might have played a part in how Powell, who is white, treated them.

 

"I think he should lose his job," said Ryan Moats, a Dallas native who attended Bishop Lynch High School and now plays for the Houston Texans.

 

Powell, hired in January 2006, did not return a call for comment. Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson said Powell told police officials that he believed that he was doing his job. He has been re-assigned to dispatch pending an investigation.

 

"When people are in distress, we should come to the rescue," said Simpson. "We shouldn't further their distress."

 

Collinsworth was buried Saturday in Louisiana.

[NightOfJoy]

Some people get off on the power trip.

 

Sounds like that cop is one of them.

[austrya]

What an asshole.

[deepseacatfish]

Yeah, that guy is a real jerk.

[cryptique]

Just another fucking asshole whose attitude is basically I'M GOING TO MAKE YOUR SITUATION ALL ABOUT ME.

[lamradio]

I'll have to share this story with my friend who recently became a Cop. I'll have to tell him "don't EVER be this asshole!"

[Central Scrutinizer]

At the risk of inciting a riot, I would say police today are as much a problem with crime as the criminals themselves. They've created an environment and culture where the victims are merely a necessary process.

[Good Old Neon]

Rather than let the color of a fucking light dictate behavior, wouldn

[austrya]

He didn't even have to let the guy go. He could have loaded them up in the police car and headed up to the hospital. If the story wasn't legit, he could have dealt with it then.

[lamradio]

At the risk of inciting a riot, I would say police today are as much a problem with crime as the criminals themselves. They've created an environment and culture where the victims are merely a necessary process.

 

A lot of it just depends on the officer, there are good Cops and bad Cops. Bad Cops: The weaker minded type. They let the job get to their head, and then they go on a power trip.. It's mostly because they see a lot of really bad shit all the time, so they become bitter and prejudice.

 

Good Cops: Like my friend (for now at least). When I asked him, why do you want to be a Cop, he said "because I just want to help people, that's all".... Hopefully he can keep that attitude, not let the job make him bitter, and he'll always be a good Cop.

[caliber66]

He didn't even have to let the guy go. He could have loaded them up in the police car and headed up to the hospital. If the story wasn't legit, he could have dealt with it then.

He pulled them over in the hospital parking lot.

[Guest Jules]

At the risk of inciting a riot, I would say police today are as much a problem with crime as the criminals themselves.

This is quite a reach, don't you think?

[Central Scrutinizer]

A lot of it just depends on the officer, there are good Cops and bad Cops. Bad Cops: The weaker minded type. They let the job get to their head, and then they go on a power trip.. It's mostly because they see a lot of really bad shit all the time, so they become bitter and prejudice.

 

Good Cops: Like my friend (for now at least). When I asked him, why do you want to be a Cop, he said "because I just want to help people, that's all".... Hopefully he can keep that attitude, not let the job make him bitter, and he'll always be a good Cop.

I wish it were that simple -- then we could implement a tagging system (little UPC code stapled to the ear lobes of bad copes) -- but it's not. And yes the wearing down from witnessing bad shit, it does impact them.

 

I have known cops who were decent people but bad cops. I have known absolute shitheads who make decent cops (provided they're put in a place where their shitheadosity can be put to use). I think it's a much more complex part of the police culture that causes the problems. Then there's the position of authority and how easily that may be corrupted for their own aims; and their experience of the all the bad shit serves as justification.

[Central Scrutinizer]

This is quite a reach, don't you think?

No, I don't, and the simplest answer is this: corruption.

 

There is the abuse of power -- just as much as this guy makes a hardcase for an athlete, there are as many (if not more) cases where a cop lets off an athlete or person of notoriety on a more serious infraction, bought off by tickets, an autographed ball etc.

 

Here's another reason:

 

[caliber66]

No, I don't, and the simplest answer is this: corruption.

 

There is the abuse of power -- just as much as this guy makes a hardcase for an athlete, there are as many (if not more) cases where a cop lets off an athlete or person of notoriety on a more serious infraction, bought off by tickets, an autographed ball etc.

 

Here's another reason:

 

So because some cops abuse their power, and that one dude may have killed his wives, cops are as much of a problem as criminals?

[Central Scrutinizer]

So because some cops abuse their power, and that one dude may have killed his wives, cops are as much of a problem as criminals?

No it goes deeper than that; police corruption has historically been a form of organized crime.

 

It affects where the law is enforced and where it's not. It can be as simple as, in Florida the FOP have medallions that are affixed to their license plate screw. Police officers are provided extra copies that are given to family and friends, so that they won't be pulled over. Police officers are allowed to rent themselves out off duty at time and a half, wearing the uniform. It got so bad that they had to limit the amount of offduty hours because too many cops were rolling in six figures and parking their cruisers during shifts to catch up on sleep. There's graft small and large. Drug rings are allowed to operate in some cases, cracked down in others, based on who's involved and what value they have -- and yes, how much they pay for protection.

 

There's pure incompetence when it comes to police work, or complete absence of it. The TV cold case and CSI shows are a hoot -- a good friend who recently retired from the local CSI cringed from the first show; the same day he had to dumpster dive to collect a gun tossed in during a foot pursuit.

 

I have relatives and ex-relatives who are/were in law enforcement, many friends who are/were in law enforcement. Many of them do/would agree with me. A few have responded to that point as "you have no idea how true that is."

 

Some criminals are good people in bad situations. Some are pure evil. But there's a symbiotic relationship that muddies the pool, a not so thin blue line.

[Gobias Industries]

Regardless of all this good cop bad cop talk, that guy is a fucking asshole.

 

edit: SO that description has been used before, but it fits. Dickweed works too, though.

[Central Scrutinizer]

Regardless of all this good cop bad cop talk, that guy is a fucking asshole.

 

edit: SO that description has been used before, but it fits. Dickweed works too, though.

Agreed.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Here's a link to the Police dash video...

 

"My mother-in law's dying"

 

It doesn't matter.

 

http://www.dallasnews.com/video/index.html?nvid=345572

[dondoboy]

My two cents: That cop is like most cops I ever had contact with. For the most part they have been bullies, power tripped control nuts. The situation seems to be the last thing on their mind. Their version of order is first and foremost. And its often a terrible way to protect and serve anyone. This guy seems like that kind of cop.

 

Having said that, I'll say this: The cops that I've met that aren't like that are fucking saints. I wouldn't do that job for any money. And certainly not anywhere near Detroit.

[OOO]

This similar story just happened the other week.

 

LONDON, March 22 (UPI) -- Disability activists say they're backing a British mother given a $145 parking ticket when she stopped to revive her severely disabled son.

Penny Batkin, 40, was taking her son, Freddie, 4, to a hospice in Hampton when he began gasping for breath and turning blue, said Richmond Aid, a charity for people with disabilities.

 

Batkin incurred the ticket by illegally stopping her car on the pavement to resuscitate him. To make matters worse, Batkin said, the Richmond Council's parking office later refused to rescind the ticket even after she explained what had happened, The Daily Telegraph reported Sunday.

 

Richmond Aid officials say they hope local authorities can find it "in their hearts to rescind a parking fine incurred by a desperate mother who had no choice if she was to save the life of her child."

 

"We are so appalled we struggle to find words," said one aid official.

[Moss]

I had a friend from high school that became a cop. He pretty much abandoned all his non police friends. I think in many cases they just become so insulated in that world where it's an "Us (police) and them (everyone else)" attitude. Not trying to paint this with a broad brush, just an observation from experience. Obviously this does not apply to all police.

[lamradio]

I had a friend from high school that became a cop. He pretty much abandoned all his non police friends. I think in many cases they just become so insulated in that world where it's an "Us (police) and them (everyone else)" attitude. Not trying to paint this with a broad brush, just an observation from experience. Obviously this does not apply to all police.

 

I hope this doesn't happen to my friend... As Forrest Gump would have put it, he's my "best good friend".

 

It's funny how a couple of my friends have gradually become distant from me ever since he became a Cop.. They barely talk to me anymore and don't come to my house when he's around.. They are just so used to steering clear of Cops I guess..

[Gobias Industries]

The weird thing is that it seems like last generation (from what I could discern), being a cop was an aspiration, and a policeman used to be someone you always kinda looked up to or looked for. My generation? We slander them, think they're total assholes and look down on police work as a profession. I wonder what happened. I think being a cop ain't what it used to be, and it could use its share of closet-cleaning, but it's not supposed to be the poor line of work that it is now.

[Mystik Spiral]

That story is so sad and disgusting. I don't understand how Moats kept his cool.