A Lapse In Judgement?

[crokett]

A Dallas police officer writes a man a ticket outside the hospital as his MIL is dying:

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dw....6f8a23c1.html

Yes, the man ran a red light but I would have done the same thing under similar circumstances.

[Ed62]

It seems like the officer can't handle a little authority. Too bad there are some like that.

Ed

[DaveS]

Not to condone his behavior, but I can definitely see how he could have spent some time in the "yeah, suUuuure yer' mom is dyin'" place.

I have a friend who is an officer, and he said the people he stops always try to feed him some line of bull, that often sounds just like this. He mostly just stopped listening to them and writes the ticket anyway.

Now, after the nurses came out, you'd have thought he'd have figured out it was true...

[dbhost]

Or after the Plano TX officer requested that he be released as well...

Officer Powell needs to learn the following phrase...

"Would you like fries with that?"

I am certain Dallas doesn't need this kind of B.S. from an obvious authority abusing cop...

[Hellrazor]

The cop was doing his job. The only reason it hit the news was because it involved a public sports figure and their entitlement mentality to do as they please. If he hit another car while blowing through the red light would it still be ok?

[crokett]

Mike, I don't know but there are lots of other ways for the officer to sensibly do his job, especially after the nurses come out (twice) to say that indeed, the MIL really is dying and the 2nd officer suggest letting him go.

[BerniePA]

Excuse me!! Doing his job?? He shouldn't have a job. I can't believe I'm the only one who thinks his pulling his gun was just plain WRONG!!! As a private citizen, I can only even SHOW a weapon if I feel my life is threatened, yet he waves his around for a TRAFFIC violation!!! And the whole rest of the situation is a crock also, in the early morning hours, there may not have been other traffic, it never said he ran the light at speed, he may have slowed and gone through when it was clear, we don't know.

I respect the cops on the street and have a cousin who is a retired cop, but this guy should not be behind a badge.

[pelligrini]

The cop was doing his job. The only reason it hit the news was because it involved a public sports figure and their entitlement mentality to do as they please. If he hit another car while blowing through the red light would it still be ok?

You ought to watch the police dashboard cam. Even the officer agreed that he stopped at the red light then drove through it (at 1:38 AM in the morning). It's a pretty ridiculous verbal exchange with the officer.

[Ed62]

I can't believe I'm the only one who thinks his pulling his gun was just plain WRONG!!!

I respect the cops on the street and have a cousin who is a retired cop, but this guy should not be behind a badge.

No, you're not the only one. This guy has no business in a cop's uniform.

Ed

[Wood_workur]

Excuse me!! Doing his job?? He shouldn't have a job. I can't believe I'm the only one who thinks his pulling his gun was just plain WRONG!!! As a private citizen, I can only even SHOW a weapon if I feel my life is threatened, yet he waves his around for a TRAFFIC violation!!! And the whole rest of the situation is a crock also, in the early morning hours, there may not have been other traffic, it never said he ran the light at speed, he may have slowed and gone through when it was clear, we don't know.

I respect the cops on the street and have a cousin who is a retired cop, but this guy should not be behind a badge.

I agree that it is over the top for this. If someone is out at that hour driving to a HOSPITAL and stops at the light, then I think its pretty obvious that they are taking care of serious business.

[cgallery]

May I play devil's advocate? What if the driver wasn't an NFL player, but a drug dealer, with a gun and a bunch of meth in the car. Otherwise, same scenario (MIL dying, driving her daughter to hospital).

What would you say then?

[radhak]

May I play devil's advocate? What if the driver wasn't an NFL player, but a drug dealer, with a gun and a bunch of meth in the car. Otherwise, same scenario (MIL dying, driving her daughter to hospital).

What would you say then?

If the cop knew of the gun/meth and had acted like this because of that knowledge, then you are talking of an entirely different situation. Else, if the cop was unaware of the gun/meth but was stopping this guy just because he could, he was still wrong.

The best indication of how bad this was, is that the chief practically says the guy should not be in this job : "I don't know how you train for these circumstances other than to hire people with good common sense and people skills."

[crokett]

You ought to watch the police dashboard cam. Even the officer agreed that he stopped at the red light then drove through it (at 1:38 AM in the morning). It's a pretty ridiculous verbal exchange with the officer.

Yep. So consider you are a police officer and a guy stops at a red light outside a hospital at 1:30 AM, no traffic, then turns through it and into the hospital parking. You stop him and he says 'the hospital called and my MIL is dying'. Are you inclined to believe him or at least check the story out, or hassle him for 20 minutes? How hard is it to walk to the door with him and talk to a nurse? The police officer used extremely poor judgement.

[Alex Franke]

The cop was doing his job.

...then he's doing it very poorly in this case.

Here's a similar (and true) story of a cop doing a much better job: A friend ran a red light on the way to the hospital. He pulled over, jumped out in his PJ's, pointing frantically to the car, screaming, "my wife's having a baby!" Cop pulls forward, turns on lights, and says "follow me" - siren blaring. The baby was born a few blocks later on the way into the ER parking lot. No one got a ticket -- not even for the seat belt and car seat infractions.

May I play devil's advocate? What if the driver wasn't an NFL player, but a drug dealer, with a gun and a bunch of meth in the car. Otherwise, same scenario (MIL dying, driving her daughter to hospital). . . .What would you say then?

Cuff him and immediately take him in to see his dying MIL -- certainly if ia nurse comes out and corroborates the story. You usually don't get a re-do when someone is dying.

[TK421]

I another article(AP) it says that Moats didn't pull over right away. Kept on driving for a little over a minute. Thats gonna piss off any cop. Also the article I read said that it took about 13 minutes for him to get his ticket and go on his way, not 20 minutes. The cop was alone, people kept getting out of the car (Moats, his wife and FIL), thats why he drew his gun. I dont know the law in Texas but it must be the law that you have to have proof of insurance with you to drive your vehicle. Just seems to me that it would be something you would have handy when you drive (like you license and registration). I personally have Zero sympathy or respect for any cop but I thinking their bashing this young man (25, 3rd year on the force) for really nothing. Its not his fault that the woman was dying. It seems to me that if they would have pulled right over, apologized and explained their situation, things might have wound up diffenently.