Ryan Moats and the DPD

Three in a row. :( Just keep in mind. No matter where you live or where you work their are assholes. I like to think the assholes are the 1% in any given situation. Yes you will find bad cops, but for every on bad cop there is a whole department of good ones.

It would be unfair to say everyone on message boards are assholes when it's probably only 1% who are that cause problems.

Just keep in mind.....an officer has a job to do. If he doesn't do his job the community gets mad, people get hurt and he gets fired. He or she has a lot of stress to deal with everyday. The biggest issue being will he or she make it home to their wife/husband and kids. At any given moment that can be taken away from them:

Police & Law Enforcement - Officer.com Police News, Forums, Links and More for Police Officers, Law Enforcement, Corrections, Sheriffs and More (http://officer.com/)

go halfway down and look at "officer down in the line of duty" and look at the officers who will not be saying good night to their loved ones anymore.

Well put

I always wondered what would happen if I had to rush to get the hospital without a police escort. Anyway Moats thinks the cop might have had a hint of racial pretense. I honestly disagree, instead I propose that the guy just seems like an overall jerk but thats just my opinion. Anyway ESPN has the whole thing on tape.

Police Chief On Incident Involving Moats - ESPN Video - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4019107)

So what do you guys think?

First off, the cop needs to get fired. I'm not sure if it was in that article or another one but he pulled out his gun on the wife when she got out of the car and started for the hospital door. If 4 people get out of a car in tears doesn't it make sense that there may some legitimacy to their story. Hell, even escort the driver into the hospital to confirm the story but to detain him and threaten him with jail and say 'I don't care' when he said that his mother in law is dying is just inexcusable.

As for the racial undertones, I'm certainly not going to dismiss it and would lean towards he wasn't given any benefit of the doubt based on that factor. I just don't want to see Jesse and Rev. Al holding a press conference on the hospital lawn.

That's all well and good, but by the time he actually got to the car they were already in the hospital parking lot and Moats' wife was crying and running to the door.

I understand the cop probably felt like he was just doing his job, and that he probably became aggrevated because Moats was fairly emotional himself, but common sense should have taken over sooner. There was no reason for the cop to hold him for 15 minutes, or to threaten to arrest him and have his car towed when it was obvious that the man just needed to get into the hospital ASAP.

And I thought the cop was only 25. Towards the end of the video he says "I've had one chase in 3 years," or something like that.

As I stated before he could have handled it differently I'm sure. When you were young, how many times were you faced with a situation, handled it, and reflected back and wished you handled it differently or felt you could have done something differently to get a better outcome? It's all about experience. Personal experiences in life make people learn. If he has not had an experience like that before he might not know any better. Please don't think cops have the answer to everything, it's just they are expected to have the answer to everything. They have to come up with the best answer they can find for the moment. That officer failed on that day. It doesn't mean he isn't a good officer. Police are human too and to human is error. It happens. unfortunatly in the cop world I'm sure to error is a compounded problem.

First off, the cop needs to get fired. I'm not sure if it was in that article or another one but he pulled out his gun on the wife when she got out of the car and started for the hospital door. If 4 people get out of a car in tears doesn't it make sense that there may some legitimacy to their story. Hell, even escort the driver into the hospital to confirm the story but to detain him and threaten him with jail and say 'I don't care' when he said that his mother in law is dying is just inexcusable.

As for the racial undertones, I'm certainly not going to dismiss it and would lean towards he wasn't given any benefit of the doubt based on that factor. I just don't want to see Jesse and Rev. Al holding a press conference on the hospital lawn.

Wow, Ok, I'll take the beating. To your answer...yes and no. On a traffic stop, any traffic stop, the first thing the officer is trained to do is "Keep officer safety." In some states it's a rule that the public has to get out of their car during a traffic stop(driver only). If anyone else gets out he/or she should be worried about their safety. A gun will be coming out of the holster.

In Va. most officers want the individuals to stay in their car. Also how would this story look if ....the ladies got out crying, walking toward the hospital, then the driver got out and shot the cop? Then later you found out the driver had kidnapped the ladies and their car. What if the man took his wife and her sister and stopped the car in hopes of having a "suicide by cop" incident. Which is where someone wants to die but would rather not do it themselves.

Again, again, again. I'm not defending his actions. Simply saying he handled this situation wrong. but for the officers perspective he has to constantly be looking out for his safety.

Now let me jump on your side of the fence a moment. It should have taken only 1-2 minutes to figure out why they were upset and say "ok, I'll walk you up to the room. If your lying to me I'll charge you with an extra charge."
He would have found out they were on the up and up and apologized and moved on.

To get into an arguement over the proof of insurance is the rediculous part. Not everyone carries everything on them all the time. They were not in an accident so to demand it in the hospital parking lot in a time of crisis is rediculous, I'll agree.

Let's give Moats some credit for handling things as well as anyone could.
If that was me? The officer would've had to arrest me.

Wow, Ok, I'll take the beating. To your answer...yes and no. On a traffic stop, any traffic stop, the first thing the officer is trained to do is "Keep officer safety." In some states it's a rule that the public has to get out of their car during a traffic stop(driver only). If anyone else gets out he/or she should be worried about their safety. A gun will be coming out of the holster.

In Va. most officers want the individuals to stay in their car. Also how would this story look if ....the ladies got out crying, walking toward the hospital, then the driver got out and shot the cop? Then later you found out the driver had kidnapped the ladies and their car. What if the man took his wife and her sister and stopped the car in hopes of having a "suicide by cop" incident. Which is where someone wants to die but would rather not do it themselves.

I said it in the off topic area:
The cop was absolutely wrong, once they entered the hospital parking lot by the er (where security cameras abound in reference to your argument) his whole view of the situation should have changed and been seeing if they were in need of assistance. What if a man had come out bleeding, by your argument the cop would have had the right to cuff him. but the actions leading up to his stopping were:
1. he had his hazards on, he slowed at the redlight to check it was clear
2. he did not drive "recklessly" but did go through a red light.
3. he identified his emergency immediately on exiting the vehicle
4. he kept his hands in sight at all times.

It is the police officer's duty to be aware of all the circumstances and to respond correctly and with the correct level of authority. This officer so clearly violated that. He was in a fairly secure environment for a traffic stop and the story was reinforced quickly by hospital and police personnel.
This is the type of conduct that gives police officers a bad rap, and I am glad the police chief did not delay in suspending him, and personally, I hope he is fired. (if i missed my mom or dad's last moments, i would be incensed!)

As to racism? who knows(I think yes), but if this had been a man(white or black) with a pregnant wife, would he have reacted like this?

I don't even know why we're discussing this. The stupid SOB should be fired, period. Anyone that stupid shouldn't be on the police force. This isn't an indictement on the whole police force but it doe's make them look bad and they need to take action in these kind of situations. They protect each other way too much. Not all cops are bad but there are way too many who are.

I agree that after about 10 seconds the officer should have caught on. The guy was just not that smart.