Were this officer's actions excusable?

Andy G {Join The Resistance}

The officer was right in pulling them over since they ran a red light and were probably speeding. However, the officer let the situation get out of hand when he didn't allow the player to go inside the hospital. All probable suspicion and probable cause for arrest was thrown out the second the nurses came to his defense to allow him to see his dying mother-in-law. He deserved a citation and that's it, but the main concern is not whether he was guilty of traffic infractions or not. It is how he was treated by the officer in a very sensitive situation.

The higher ups at Dallas PD now dropped the ticket (I'm sure the Mayor was having a fit when he heard this), and due to the officer's insensitivity even after nurses told him about a dying relative the officer put himself in that position and became a liability to the city.

Update: Yes, There has been 5 times when I got pulled over where the officer didn't give me a ticket. Those 5 times where in different parts of the US and not in the same city. I was polite in all those situations and the officers gave me a warning. But that was many years ago.

fangtaiyang

There are two sides to every story and it is unfair to make a judgment based on the emotional view of one side. The officer was attempting to enforce the law and was met with angry argument. The officer is only human and while he may have made an error in judgment, he did not make an error in law enforcement.

lone butcher Spartan remembers

Yes, they were excusable. He was doing his job. While he could have (and then the eternal argument, he should have) allowed Moats to go in the hospital and see his mother-in-law, he was indeed doing his job. So, like another poster said, he may have made an error in judgement but not so in the law.
Never been pulled over.

Big Fella

I guess the officer is supposed to believe every story they are told, when they stop a person on traffic! The mother took a turn for the worse that day? Why was the daughter not at her side, especially if she knew how gravely ill her mother was? My son broke his leg, he was in the hospital for 3 days, I never slept let alone left the hospital. If I knew my mother, son, father, sister, may be my in-law was near death I would be at the hospital!!! Dallas PD needs to investigate themselves for reassigning the officer for this minor incident, hell they have shot unarmed people and got less attention then this, give me a break!!!!! I imagine had Mr. Moats been respectful and courteous things would have gone much better, he did violate the law! Because you are enroute to the hospital to see a dying love one, does not mean you can run red lights and speed, nor does it make make any probable cause or reasonable suspicion disappear! He could have walked him upstairs and dealt with him later, if he wanted to, but he did not have to!

cuddleyleo2003

Sad situation and at first I was thinking that he should be fired but common sense has set in. The only thing the Cop is guilty of is not having any compassion. That is not a crime. He was in his right to issue a citation because they were speeding and ran a red light. He had every right to do it even though it was cold hearted to do so. Again though, he was within his rights. If you were to ask me what I would have done if it had been me with a love one in the hospital, let me tell you that I would have done exactly what Moats did and I would be angry as hell at the cop but I could not press charges or make the case that he should lose his job. I would have probably gotten arrested that night because I would have ignored him and ran into the hospital but I would have been wrong, not him. I don't totally excuse him but the law is the law.

And Yes, I have been pulled over several times and not received a ticket. The secret is to acknowledge what you did and be polite. The moment you get loud and start denying that you did something is the moment that he makes up his mind to ticket you.

barney9651

Rules are rules, but maybe a speeding ticket wasn't the end of the world so much that the police officer couldn't have escorted him up there. However, HIS (Moats') reaction would have needed to be respectful and appropriate too, you know?

SGT. D

Its not that I don't feel for the guy, but who gets to decide what excuse is acceptable next time someone runs a red light? Don't get me wrong, a certain amount of common sense goes with Police Work and each individual officer has to be given a certain amount of discretion when doing his job. But along with that discretion also comes a certain amount of trust that the officer is capable of handling that discretion and when a judgment call is made and the officer stays within those guidelines the officer should be found as being justified. In this case, the officer in question has the discretion of issuing a ticket, or not and letting the offender go. He issued the ticket completely by the book so as far as I'm concerned he stayed within the guidelines of his discretion and no gross misconduct was displayed. The fact that the Offender was breaking the law by speeding and running a red light and arguing with the officer is certainly relavant and contrary to the individual above, that probable cause was not "thrown out" when Nurses told the Officer about the dying mother-in-law. The fact that the Offender is a celebrity is irrelevant. The fact that his mother in law is dying is relavent to a degree, but to what degree? Since its the officers job to weigh that degree and no one elses, its his decision and he made that decision within his decretionary guidelines-He went by the book which IS the standard to follow whenever a judgement call is made. However, it is also the Department's right to re-assign the officer to a duty that more suits his personality. I would have had him reassigned to a SWAT team, where orders are orders and you go exactly by the book and how you were trained and there is little or no gray area or "wiggle room".

Mike

Actually the Officer was justified.

They deliberately ran a red light. Just because they turned on theiir emergency flashers does not excuse running the red light.

They are lucky they were not killed themselves or did not kill anyone else in the process.

GrimJack

How come police officers are supposed to be compassionate? If you want compassion, see a shrink or a priest or something.

Police officers are trained to see their "clients" as scumbags, thugs, and lowlifes. Any cop who has sympathy for a criminal is a cop who can't be trusted to enforce the law.

EDIT: Yes, really. Read a few police forums and see what they have to say about "ordinary citizens". They think all of us are scumbags.

Big J

The cop should be fired and sued. The idiot lacked common sense. Even the fkn nurse came out and told him the mother was dying. I would have said go see your mother and I would not have written him a ticket. I am human.....many cops are not. They are freeken robots that lack common sense.

To the poster below me: Was the officer's smartazz comments and threats called for? I rest my case. Some of you paint an idiot cop in a good light no matter how bad the cop conducted himself.

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