Police officer apologizes for detaining RB Ryan Moats as he was attempting to visit his dying mother-in-law
The Dallas police officer who drew his gun after pulling over Texans running back Ryan Moats as he was attempting to visit with his dying mother-in-law apologized today for his behavior on the afternoon of March 18.
"I wish to publicly and sincerely apologize to the Moats family, my colleagues in the Dallas Police Department and to all those who have been rightfully angered by my actions," Powell said in a statement released through his attorney. "... After stopping Mr. Moats' vehicle, I showed poor judgment and insensitivity to Mr. Moats and his family by my words and actions."
According to the Associated Press, Powell stopped Moats outside Baylor Regional Medical Center in the Dallas suburb of Plano after Moats rolled his sport-utility vehicle through a red light. By the time Moats received a ticket and a lecture from Powell, the player's mother-in-law had died.
"I can screw you over," Powell, 25, said at one point in the videotaped incident. When another officer came with word that Moats' mother-in-law was indeed dying, Powell's response was: "All right. I'm almost done."
Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle apologized to the family Thursday and announced that Powell, a three-year member of the force, would be on paid leave pending an internal investigation.
Here's a video of the disturbing incident:
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Comments (6)
I was somewhat bewildered when I first saw the report and video on the news. The Officer displayed no sensitivity whatsoever. He was indifferent to the feelings of the the young man rushing to be with his dying moher-in-law. I felt very distraught that I too, could have easily been in this young mans shoes. It was sad to say the least. Then came the second part of this saga. It seems that the Captain of the department came on tv to offer a personal appology on behalf of the department for the actions of this one particular officer. I find that adding insult to injury (although I am certain that his appology was offered in good faith). I find it very insulting, one to the officer, who afterall was doing his job as he is trained to do, as law inforcement officals are trained to do, performing their duty guided not by emotions. The officer was very incensitive, he could have been more polite with his choice of words, however, he was doing his job. Furthermore, if this gentleman was not one with relatively access to the media, would we have the captain offer a personal appology? Instead of twisting this officers arm to appologize, his captain should give him a good old fashion "in your face" scream down. Law enforcement officials are trained to not let emotions cloud their judment or actions. Then I lost it when the officer, it seems now is appologizing. Thats when I lost respect for him. Yes I thought that he acted like a jerk, but I was very proud of him for not letting fame, or projected emotions sway him from his duties, but now that he is appologizing...beg to ask...would he have done so if the young man was not famous? Would he have also appologize to an average Joe/Jane?
Thanks for you time!
I feel really bad for the officer. As bad as I feel for Moats.
White cops get killed by black men a lot.
Black men are mistreated by white cops a lot.
Bad situation.
It's life in America, having a Black President changes nothing.
There is still a tremendous amount of inherent bias in this country that is not acknowleged by many.
The cop could have done better, Moats shouldn't have to do better..
Each has his predispositions.
We all have to work on our own dispositions.
Take a deep breath.
And eat some red meat before you go out.
I'm more in line with you on this Isles. I feel for both guys.
Anyone running a red light needs to be pulled over and
when you cannot find your insurance card...all kinds of
red flags. Warrants may be out for you, etc.
Yeah, maybe the officer could have said, ok, patted him down,
and walked in with him - but that today we would be discussing
"why did the officer pat him down." Crappy situation
for everyone.
But why is it that SO MANY NFL players seem to drive
sans licenses, insurance cards, registrations, etc.?
Moats had the license and registration, according to the video. It just took him a minute to find it because he was so bewildered with the situation. I feel no remorse for this cop whatsoever. He didn't even know Moats was an NFL running back, Moats never identified himself as such, and was only trying to make the officer hurry up with the ticket so he could get inside. But instead, the officer had to go through his Cartman-like "You will respect my authority" speech, taking 14 minutes.
The worst part is that at the end of the video the cop tells Moats that if he would just tell a cop the situation they would more than likely let people go in circumstances like this. But Moats DID try to tell the cop what was happening, but he wouldn't hear it because, after all, it was in Texas and the cop was white.
I understand why a cop would be a little nervous about people jumping out of the car, and they are trained to behave a certain way, but once you see it isn't a dangerous situation, can't you show some remorse and sympathy?
This cop will be doing the Farva desk job for the rest of his tenure hopefully.
It was a bad situation. The cop was doing things by the book and thought he was being treated without respect by Moats. OTOH Moats could have pulled the "don't you know who I am" card and given out plenty of attitude, especially in this bad situation, yet he didn't. I feel sorry for them both. The cop especially, because he will likely be an ex-cop soon, just for doing his job properly.
I dont feel bad for the cop at all. You reap what you sow in life. Hes a scumbag. Plain and simple. He had a powertrip just like a lot of other police officers do.