Chief: Officer's behavior at hospital 'very embarrassing'

[Jiro]

Jiro,

Excuse me, but just because I'm totally blind and have never driven before doesn't mean I don't understand what happens at a traffic stop. Really. It's not that complicated. An officer pulls you over, is either nice or rude, the driver gives his license, agrees to pay the ticket or appeal in traffic court and drives off. Don't make this situation more complicated than it is. This was a case of an officer clearly acting out of line when he had no reason to.

really? it's not that complicated, you say? well in this case - let's review the UNEDITED Dallas PD dashcam tape. the vehicle ran thru red light at high speed and thru few stop signs. it did not stop for several minutes with officer behind them. then it suddenly stopped at hospital with several people coming out in agitated state of minds, being uncooperative and belligerent with officer. then a big person came out with his hands partially in his pockets which may looks like he has a gun hidden in his pocket. Should police officer just assume everything is OK and that they have legitimate reason for driving recklessly? Well how about this - it could be bunch of people inside the car trying to run away from cop because of illegal contrabands in the car but cleverly think if they pull into hospital, they can get away from it. sorry but the cop's not taking any chance.

Tell me why is our police officer getting killed every 57-58 hours? last year, 181 officers were killed in the line of duty. Quite a handful of them were killed at routine traffic stop. So if it sounds pretty simple as you stated... please do explain to me how did 2 Oakland officers get killed. It was a routine traffic stop too.

What I just posted is a picture of crime scene of Oakland deadly officer shootings that left 4 officers dead. It began with most officers' typical routine traffic stop. 2 motorcycle police pulled him over for unknown reason (but news said it was a routine traffic stop). All of sudden, the driver came out of car and shot them.... and then executed 2 officers. In that picture I just posted... let me describe the crime scene for you. It was 2 police motorcycles positioned behind the pimp mobile car. There were 2 blood trails right next to motorcycles. This implies that the officers didn't even see it coming. They did not know the driver was armed and had an arrest warrant on his file. Now you understand this officer's difficult position?

Officer is human too like us. With Oakland shootings that left 4 officers dead... obviously the police across the nation have heightened senses. Please do not assume the cop would immediately understand your situation. CALM DOWN and COOPERATE. Remember - the cop is the one with gun and badge. Only he will decide your life based what action you take. You can either be killed/arrested or released immediately. Please be smart and remain calm with your very best. it will save your time and his time. The driver's belligerence cost him a time. It's not officer's fault.

 

[Hear Again]

Jiro,

Those kinds of situations aren't your typical garden variety traffic stop. They're the exception rather than the rule.

Just because an ordinary traffic stop has the potential to be deadly does not give an officer the right to act inappropriately.

If an officer worries excessively about being hurt or killed on the job, they are in the wrong profession.

 

[KarissaMann05]

Yeah..... I agree what Jiro said. Sorry to say this... Due to my several experiences and my witnesses (I always saw so many cops, my family was caught by cops, etc etc [ask Puyo, he lived in Salem once]), my family and I have to do calmly whatever cop said... cooperative is the main reason to take under control. Don't get me wrong. I do understand how their feelings. I think the sitaution was really messed up cos of not cooperative and calm.....

I'm sorry but I agree what police duty is really about...

 

[Jiro]

Jiro,

Those kinds of situations aren't your typical garden variety traffic stop. They're the exception rather than the rule.

Just because an ordinary traffic stop has the potential to be deadly does not give an officer the right to act inappropriately.

then calm down and cooperate. that way - he will understand your situation better and he would have made it to his mother-in-law. the more belligerence you are, the more aggressive the cop will be. simple as that. Again - you don't know what to expect whenever you pull over somebody. Too many officers have been injured/killed from drivers' lies to get out of the situation. If you see many police cam videos from youtube, you'll understand. The most horrible video I saw was the beating of female police officer at routine traffic stop. The situation erupted so suddenly.... all because the cop let down her guard.

Besides, if an officer worries excessively about being hurt or killed on the job, they are in the wrong profession.

that's why they're well-trained and they treat every situation as hostile until it's under control. that's why many officers are alive. I'm simply describing you what I'm seeing in video tape. The situation was completely out of control and the people were very belligerent and uncooperative... thus making officer very nervous.

 

[Hear Again]

Jiro,

You have your viewpoint and I have mine. Let's agree to disagree, shall we?

 

[Jiro]

Jiro,

You have your viewpoint and I have mine. Let's agree to disagree, shall we?

yep Just remember that if you are not cooperative and calm to cop, it's your fault.

 

[naisho]

Not trying to convince anyone in here, but this is word for word what is going on exactly before the video footage. I don't think most people are saying that the officer did nothing wrong, but what they're trying to say is that Officer Powell had his reasons to initially pull the suspect over and question what the heck was going on with them.


This is what happens in the initial part of the footage:

01:39AM Wednesday March 17th, 2009.

Police cam on, sirens waving the red and blue, horn on full blast. Powell proceeds towards some intersection. Moats is in his black SUV already like, estimating from the video, maybe half a mile ahead of Officer Powell. Looking like he has no reason to stop.

At the intersection, the opposing traffic has right of way (left turn is on) and 2 cars pass while Officer Powell has his horn blaring and waits for them to pass while stopping for their right of way.

He speeds up, in about less than a mile he catches up with Moats in his SUV. There is no traffic around at all, at this time of the night. Moats makes a right turn at another intersection, now the cop's probably about a quarter of a mile behind him. I think Moats/the passengers know that there's a cop following them on their tail, but instead they ignore the officer and make a right, pass a stop sign, make a left, and then a right where they are finally then in the parking lot.

Observing the time, it appears that Moats has ignored the cop for 1 minute, 4 seconds not including any extra footage that wasn't shown exactly when the sirens went off. It may have been well over two minutes.

The rest is what you see on documentary here and cutoff clips of the actual conversation going on, which is the second major point against the Officer. Granted, it looks really bad for Officer Powell as the nurse and hospital cops came out to inform him of what was going on, but this came AFTER the initial reason why Moats was pulled over.

 

[Jiro]

Not trying to convince anyone in here, but this is word for word what is going on exactly before the video footage. I don't think most people are saying that the officer did nothing wrong, but what they're trying to say is that Officer Powell had his reasons to initially pull the suspect over and question what the heck was going on with them.


This is what happens in the initial part of the footage:

01:39AM Wednesday March 17th, 2009.

Police cam on, sirens waving the red and blue, horn on full blast. Powell proceeds towards some intersection. Moats is in his black SUV already like, estimating from the video, maybe half a mile ahead of Officer Powell. Looking like he has no reason to stop.

At the intersection, the opposing traffic has right of way (left turn is on) and 2 cars pass while Officer Powell has his horn blaring and waits for them to pass while stopping for their right of way.

He speeds up, in about less than a mile he catches up with Moats in his SUV. There is no traffic around at all, at this time of the night. Moats makes a right turn at another intersection, now the cop's probably about a quarter of a mile behind him. I think Moats/the passengers know that there's a cop following them on their tail, but instead they ignore the officer and make a right, pass a stop sign, make a left, and then a right where they are finally then in the parking lot.

Observing the time, it appears that Moats has ignored the cop for 1 minute, 4 seconds not including any extra footage that wasn't shown exactly when the sirens went off. It may have been well over two minutes.

The rest is what you see on documentary here and cutoff clips of the actual conversation going on, which is the second major point against the Officer. Granted, it looks really bad for Officer Powell as the nurse and hospital cops came out to inform him of what was going on, but this came AFTER the initial reason why Moats was pulled over.

thanks for detailed summary of police video! About your bold print - yes I agree. The first half... the cop was within regulation and acted appropriately. But that moment when the nurse came out to inform him of the situation... Officer Powell's judgment was questionable. Also - from my perspective, there is absolutely NO racism involved. Cop would do same thing for any race.

 

[Hear Again]

yep Just remember that if you are not cooperative and calm to cop, it's your fault.

And I would suggest that you remember if an officer acts out of line, it is his fault.

 

[Jiro]

And I would suggest that you remember if an officer acts out of line, it is his fault.

that's correct and I agree. I have seen several police cam video that some officers were on power trip. It was disgusting. But like I said - the driver was uncooperative and belligerent at FIRST. The officer acted appropriately to that hostile situation created by the driver. In fact - the officer gave them SEVERAL stern warnings and orders. and he exercised with professional restraint. that's why he did not arrest him. See below for his direct quotes toward to driver -

POWELL: "Get in there," Officer Powell yelled out to Tamishia Moats, Ryan's wife, as she exited the car. "Let me see your hands. Get in there. Put your hands on the car."

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

“I can screw you over,” Powell said. “I’d rather not do that. Your attitude will dictate everything that happens.”

All perfectly within regulation. Like I said - do not argue with the cop. It's always bad idea to do that.

 

[Hear Again]

Jiro,

Why are you continuing to argue your point? I said let's agree to disagree.

 

[Jiro]

Jiro,

Why are you continuing to argue your point? I said let's agree to disagree.

see your post #49. it was response to your continuing post.

 

[Hear Again]

see your post #49. it was response to your continuing post.

Fair enough. I've said everything I've had to say in this thread.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

Dallas police chief apologizes for conduct of officer who drew gun on NFL player outside hospital.

As a storm of outrage gathered over his department, Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle called a news conference Thursday to apologize for the behavior of an officer who detained a distressed family outside a hospital emergency room.

Kunkle said Officer Robert Powell had been placed on paid administrative leave in connection with the incident last week, in which he stopped a family rushing to visit a dying mother, keeping them for 13 minutes to write a traffic ticket. The woman died before two of the family members were able to see her.

"I am embarrassed and disappointed by the behavior of one of our police officers," the chief told a packed audience of media outlets that included Inside Edition. "His behavior, in my opinion, did not exhibit the common sense, discretion, the compassion that we expect our officers to exhibit."

During the traffic stop, caught on the officer's in-car camera, Powell berated the driver, 26-year-old NFL running back Ryan Moats, and threatened him with arrest for running a traffic light.

After seeing the video earlier this week, several senior police commanders knew they had a public relations crisis on their hands. A Plano police officer who was present at the March 17 incident had reported it to a superior, who had reported it to a Dallas police supervisor.

After news of the video broke late Wednesday, irate calls and e-mails started spilling into police headquarters.

Shortly before 9 a.m. Thursday, at the department's weekly crime meeting, many members of the command staff viewed the video for the first time. The reaction was one of disbelief and head shaking, said several who were present.

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"People were just quiet," said Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson, who oversees the city's seven patrol stations. "Just, 'Oh, my God, I can't believe what I just saw.' "

Kunkle took the podium hours later in front of a dozen news cameras. At one point, he seemed to restrain himself from being too candid with his views on the incident.

"When we in the command staff reviewed the tapes," he said, "we were embarrassed, disappointed – it's hard to find the right words and still be professional in my role as a police chief."

The chief also praised Moats and his family for how they handled the officer's behavior.

Dallas police Officer Robert Powell "They exercised extraordinary patience, restraint, dealing with the behavior of our officer," Kunkle said. "At no time did Mr. Moats identify himself as an NFL football player or expect any kind of special consideration. He handled himself very, very well."

The video shows what happened after Moats, who plays for the Houston Texans, rolled through a red light in Dallas en route to Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. Powell switched on his lights and sirens, caught up to the family's SUV, and followed for about 20 seconds as they found a parking spot near the hospital's emergency entrance.

Moats' mother-in-law, 45-year-old Jonetta Collinsworth, had been struggling with breast cancer. That night family members received word that they needed to hurry to the hospital because she was dying.

"You really want to go through this right now?" Moats pleaded to Powell. "My mother-in-law is dying. Right now!"

An argument followed, during which Powell lectured Moats and threatened him with arrest.

Kunkle acknowledged Thursday that Powell also drew his gun at the start of the incident.

"I understand that he admits to drawing his gun but not pointing it," the chief said.

Moats' wife, Tamishia Moats, has said otherwise.

"He was pointing a gun at me as soon as I got out of the car," she said. The video shows her pleading with him a moment, then ignoring him and walking into the hospital with her great-aunt.

Kunkle said that for Powell to draw his gun at first may be defensible. The SUV had not immediately stopped for him. People were piling out of it. The situation was uncertain.

"But as quickly as possible, he should have holstered his gun and apologized, once he found out what the circumstances were," Kunkle said, "and then tried to accommodate the Moatses the best he could getting access into the hospital."

Instead, Powell spent long minutes exercising his authority over Ryan Moats, whose grandfather-in-law – the father of the dying woman – stayed behind with him out of concern for his safety, the family has said.

Powell, 25, has not returned calls. He has defended his actions to department officials.

"My understanding is that Officer Powell, even when he saw the videotape, believed he had not acted inappropriately," Kunkle said.

As the video reached a national audience Thursday, featured among other places on the home page of Yahoo.com, it became clear that many people disagreed. Thousands of comments poured onto The Dallas Morning News' Web site, most of them singling out Powell for derision.

"The majority of the comments reflect my position," said Kunkle, "that at the point the officer was told that they were responding to a dying family member, that should have been his concern: to allow those people to get access to that family member."

Police officials have contacted the Moats family to apologize, asked that the ticket be dismissed, and posted a statement of remorse on the department's Web page.

Asked at Thursday's news conference what officers are trained to do in such a situation, Kunkle said even someone with no police training should have known better than to do what Powell did.

"I don't know how you train for these circumstances, other than to hire people with common sense and good people skills," he said.

Department officials say the now-infamous video will likely make its way into the police academy's training curriculum.

Kunkle said the internal investigation against Powell will focus on conduct reflecting poorly on the department, as well as making unwarranted threats of arrest.

Powell also faces investigation for comments he made to another officer after the incident ended – while the video camera was still rolling. He said he "worded" a report in such a way as to justify a January police chase.

"It appears, what he said, to have been contrary to our pursuit policy," Kunkle said, "to where he may have lied about the circumstances under which the pursuit began."

The chief said any one of the charges could lead to dismissal.

stevethompson@dallasnews.com; teiserer@dallasnews.com

WHAT THEY SAID: The traffic stop

Excerpts from Officer Robert Powell and Ryan Moats:

Moats: You really want to go through this right now? My mother-in-law is dying. Right now! ... I got seconds before she's dying, man!

Powell: If my mom was dying I'd probably be a little upset too, but when I saw flashing red and blues, I would stop.

Moats: Did I not stop at the red light?

Powell: You stopped, then you drove through the red light.

Moats: I stopped, I checked the traffic, I waved the traffic off, then I turned.

Powell: This is not an emergency vehicle. You do not have the right to control the traffic.

Moats: OK. All right ... just go ahead and check my insurance so I can go ahead and go. If you're gonna give me a ticket, give me a ticket. I really don't care, just ...

Powell: Your attitude says that you need one.

Moats: I don't have an attitude. All I'm asking you is just to hurry up. Cause you're standing here talking to me...

Powell: Shut your mouth and listen.

Moats: Shut my mouth? Is that how you talk to me, too?

Powell: Shut your mouth and listen. If you want to keep this going, I'll just put you in handcuffs, and I'll take you to jail for running a red light.

Moats: OK. All right.

Powell: I can do that.

Moats: OK.

Powell: State law says I can.

Moats: Yes, sir. Go ahead.

Powell: If you don't settle down that's what I'm gonna do.

Moats: Yes, sir.

Powell: All right, If you don't settle down, your truck's illegally parked – I'll tow that as well.

Moats: Yes, sir.

Powell: OK, I can screw you over. I'd rather not do that. Your attitude will dictate everything that happens, and right now, your attitude sucks.

Moats: Yes, sir.

Powell: OK, I turned my red and blues on as you were going over the bridge ...

Moats: You think I'm gonna stop when my wife's mother is dying?

Powell: You are required to stop. What you're doing does not matter. Red and blues, you have to stop. I can charge you with fleeing right now.

Moats: Yes, sir. ...

Powell: I can take you to jail. I can tow your truck. I can charge you with fleeing.

Moats: Yes, sir, you can. I understand.

Powell: I can make your night very difficult.

Moats: I hope you'll be a great person and not do that.


Ryan Moats

Born: Dec. 17, 1982

Family: wife, Tamishia

High school: Bishop Lynch

College: Louisiana Tech

Position: Running back

NFL experience: Fifth season

Notable: Originally committed to SMU. A third-round draft pick by Philadelphia in 2005, he was released by the Eagles in August. Moats then signed to Arizona's practice squad for two weeks in mid-September before he was cut on Oct. 1. He was signed to the Houston Texans practice squad on Oct. 7 and moved to the active roster on Oct. 25. He played in eight games.
Dallas police chief apologizes for conduct of officer who drew gun on NFL player outside hospital | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News



I'm total appalled over the police officer's behavior front of the hospitial. My symathpy to the family members and hope they will file a lawsuit against the police officer.


Jiro, I'm not surprise over your comments because I know your posts in debate threads for defend police officers when you knew they handle wrongly.

 

[Jiro]

I'm total appalled over the police officer's behavior front of the hospitial. My symathpy to the family members and hope they will file a lawsuit against the police officer.

exactly what are they suing for?

Jiro, I'm not surprise over your comments because I know your posts in debate threads for defend police officers when you knew they handle wrongly.

I merely explained my perspective in this issue. I don't defend all cops' actions because not all are good people - see my post #48 and #50.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

By the time Moats made it up to the emergency room, his mother-in-law was dead.

"I went up after she passed and held her hand, but she was already gone," Moats said in a telephone interview.

How sad.

I hope this officer is given a severe punishment for his lack of compassion and understanding. Shame on him.

Yes, it's very sad...

That Robert Powell doesn't deserve to remain to be Police Officer.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

I've said this same thing last year over and over regarding situation with cop.

Sorry, we still disagree with you because the Police Officers should use their good common sense, not paraniod. Like what I said last year, they are well aware what Police Officer is about before they want to be Police Officer.

Rule #1 - CALMLY COOPERATE and everything will be fine. Try your BEST to remain calm and COOPERATE! No matter what your situation is.... your action determines the officer's next course of action. Officer repeatedly told him to calm down but the football player continued to be agitated.

Mr. & Mrs. Moats handle with Police Officer's respectful behavior very well in respectful way.

Yes this situation was very very unfortunate.... but I see no wrong on officer's part. I'm sorry but many cops have been killed or injured in the line of duty simply because the drivers were agitated.

It's not just police officers but many unarmed civillians were killed/injured by the police officers as well due their misunderstanding and paraniod. Oh yes, some pregnant women were being taser by police officer because they thought pregnant women have a gun... what a stupid... I see the problem is the Police Officer did not training professional how to use their common sense.

Read the exact quote - "I can screw you over," Powell said. "I'd rather not do that. Your attitude will dictate everything that happens." Walk a mile in officer's shoes on daily basis... and you'll understand. However - I do agree that race might have played a part in the white officer’s behavior...

Have you read the link, I posted few minutes ago. What do you think of their manner ?

 

[Jiro]

Sorry, we still disagree with you because the Police Officers should use their good common sense, not paraniod. Like what I said last year, they are well aware what Police Officer is about before they want to be Police Officer.

I'm sorry but I guess the words cannot convince you. Perhaps the videos will do. I will post it soon.

Mr. & Mrs. Moats handle with Police Officer's respectful behavior very well in respectful way.

Not really. Please watch the video. On transcript - it looks like they were polite but in real life - they were not. Their body actions and behaviors were very hostile and uncooperative.

It's not just police officers but many unarmed civillians were killed/injured by the police officers as well due their misunderstanding and paraniod. Oh yes, some pregnant women were being taser by police officer because they thought pregnant women have a gun... what a stupid... I see the problem is the Police Officer did not training professional how to use their common sense.

MANY? Do you have statistic/source to support your statement?

Have you read the link, I posted few minutes ago. What do you think of their manner ?

hostile. uncooperative. agitated. suspicious. Have you seen the video?

 

[naisho]

Ok, there's two parts to what's going on. Most of the officer's evaluation in his behavior occurs in the parking lot of the Plano TX Hospital. This is during around 02:00 minutes to 15+ minutes of the footage video. Most of the internet isn't showing you the first 0:00 seconds > 1minute 60 seconds. They cut it out and focused on the talking in the parking lot.

That is what what the opposition is arguing about in here. Not the actual fact that Officer Powell is stubborn and impatient to quick change. He did what his duty asked of him the first ~1-3 minutes of the video. After that he starts losing credibility as other things come in favor of the Moats family.

What I'm also surprised about, is we don't know if Moat's mother-in-law died during the interrogation, what if she died before they reached there, or was dead before then? Would this have changed anything? Do you think the media is making the story more teary-eyed to fuse anger towards the officer's behavior? Why didn't Moats start running into the hospital as soon as the officer let him off......?? He was walking for like 20-30 seconds to the door, instead of running... I would be running.. especially if I played football....

The following is a story by shared by another cop, who watched this Moats scene. Perhaps this may open an eye for others to realize, why officers act they way they may do so:

when I was a rookie, I stopped a car going 50mph in a 20mph zone, in VA thats wreckless driving and you get apprehended for that. There were 3 people in the car and the driver tried getting out of the car as soon as I stopped him and was waiving his hands, etc I told him to stay in the car over the mic,etc. I go up to the car and the driver is like "we are late for a funeral, his grandfather (pointing to the passenger) is having his memorial and it started 5 minutes ago."

I told the guy he was doing 50 in a 20 and he said "im sorry for that but we got to go" and was uninterested as if just saying he was sorry and that he had a funeral to go to justified what he was doing. I didnt run his license and just let him go.

I go back to my car, radio the desk, put my stuff away and drive off. the dude rolled out too going at least 30-35 which ticked me off.

So I go down the street to the chapel and I encounter crickets. nobody for miles.

I go all over, no funeral, nothing. I go back to the desk, tell them what happened and it was a joke for a while. Everyone was telling me they would have never let them go.

 

[Jiro]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dBMHF3QvtA]YouTube - Texas Officer assaulted on traffic stop[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEpUtoUzE4U]YouTube - Deputy shot in the face during a traffic stop AND LIVES[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk9zC6PzpqI]YouTube - Wilmington Traffic Stop Shootout (Full Version)[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhRRj0AqyWg]YouTube - New Mexico State Trooper Taken Hostage[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzcYdg786sc]YouTube - Trooper Shot[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y90VC4jzKMs]YouTube - Texas DPS Trooper killed after shots fired[/ame]

Now do you understand why police officers get VERY VERY NERVOUS if people suddenly come out of car when stopped? This is precisely what could happen. This is not paranoia. This is for SAFETY REASON. Remember - 181 officers were killed last year.