ESPN: Officer delayed Moats as relative died

[Jon88]

Surprise, surprise.

 

[Q_the_man]

He went through several stop signs pulling into the hospital without stopping.

U sound like u think the cop was right...... what if that was u and ur wife, would u be calm or upset if the cop is asking u for insurance, license, than he has run a check to see if u have any warrants, all along ur family member is dying within minutes.....come on that common judgement, all the cop had to do was trust his gut feeling and let him go, shoot if anything he could have went inside the hospital also to make sure.....

 

[el_chevo]

Why not approach the vehicle in an unbiased manner and ask if there is an emergency? Why did the police officer not ask that basic question?

 

[cowboyjoe]

as old saying goes, what goes around comes around, at some point in his life, that police officer is going to have something similar or even worse happen to him, when he needs to get to the hospital in an emergency

just like the person in charge on the police department said, we want our officers to have compassion, but the police officer made moats stand there and wait, thats not compassion or common sense

 

[adbutcher]

 

[Kevinicus]

U sound like u think the cop was right...... what if that was u and ur wife, would u be calm or upset if the cop is asking u for insurance, license, than he has run a check to see if u have any warrants, all along ur family member is dying within minutes.....come on that common judgement, all the cop had to do was trust his gut feeling and let him go, shoot if anything he could have went inside the hospital also to make sure.....

I think the cop was right for stopping him and understand his initial reaction to the situation. He was chasing a vehicle that was not stopping. What do you think your gut tells you then?

I also think that Moats made the situation worse, not just because he didn't stop, but because he kept arguing with the cop.

The cop was not right in being a jerk and delaying him so long. Once the situation was clarified and settled down he could have escorted Moats in the hospital and still issued him a ticket later if he wanted.

I think both were at fault, Moats more so initially, and the officer more so later.

 

[el_chevo]

I think the cop was right for stopping him and understand his initial reaction to the situation. He was chasing a vehicle that was not stopping. What do you think your gut tells you then?

I also think that Moats made the situation worse, not just because he didn't stop, but because he kept arguing with the cop.

The cop was not right in being a jerk and delaying him so long. Once the situation was clarified and settled down he could have escorted Moats in the hospital and still issued him a ticket later if he wanted.

I think both were at fault, Moats more so initially, and the officer more so later.

So why didn't the police officer begin the conversation with a simple question: "Do you have an emergency?" I mean, they were en route to A HOSPITAL!

 

[Q_the_man]

I think the cop was right for stopping him and understand his initial reaction to the situation. He was chasing a vehicle that was not stopping. What do you think your gut tells you then?

I also think that Moats made the situation worse, not just because he didn't stop, but because he kept arguing with the cop.

The cop was not right in being a jerk and delaying him so long. Once the situation was clarified and settled down he could have escorted Moats in the hospital and still issued him a ticket later if he wanted.

I think both were at fault, Moats more so initially, and the officer more so later.

Come on stop been naive, OK he ran a light or 2, if it was serious why didn't the officer call for backup or handcuff Moats, he knew Moats was telling the truth but didn't care.... but the nurse comes out, says Moats name and says they have a code blue and still the officer holds him for another 6 minutes.....If it were me i would have ran in the hospital when my wife did, oh well tow the truck.....

 

[viman96]

I think the cop was right for stopping him and understand his initial reaction to the situation. He was chasing a vehicle that was not stopping. What do you think your gut tells you then?

I also think that Moats made the situation worse, not just because he didn't stop, but because he kept arguing with the cop.

The cop was not right in being a jerk and delaying him so long. Once the situation was clarified and settled down he could have escorted Moats in the hospital and still issued him a ticket later if he wanted.

I think both were at fault, Moats more so initially, and the officer more so later.

I already said it but I will say it again. There is the letter of the law and there is the spirit of the law. As soon as the officer found out a family member was near death, he should have escorted the family into the hospital.

We all agree Moats should have been pulled over. Move past that. IMO the officer was on an ego trip to show who is boss. I think it is worth noting that Moats did not mention he is an NFL player looking for special privileges. He was a man under major distress. Police officers are to protect and serve the public.

 

[Chinfu]

I think the cop was right for stopping him and understand his initial reaction to the situation. He was chasing a vehicle that was not stopping. What do you think your gut tells you then?

I also think that Moats made the situation worse, not just because he didn't stop, but because he kept arguing with the cop.

The cop was not right in being a jerk and delaying him so long. Once the situation was clarified and settled down he could have escorted Moats in the hospital and still issued him a ticket later if he wanted.

I think both were at fault, Moats more so initially, and the officer more so later.

The cop wouldn't even acknowledge the reasons for his actions. I think it's unrealistic given the circumstances to expect someone to calmly pull over and explain the situation.

The way the cop acted I don't doubt that he would have done the same thing but his wife would have been too far away to run and make it to her dying mothers death bed. it's pretty clear he might the right decision.

Some things in life are more important that a traffic violations that endangered no one.

 

[cowboyjoe]

my sentiments exactly the officer was on an ego and power trip,

now he has to answer to it, and true all moats had to do was stop and tell what was going on, both were wrong, moats at the start and the officer at the end,

 

[viman96]

So why didn't the police officer begin the conversation with a simple question: "Do you have an emergency?" I mean, they were en route to A HOSPITAL!

Not only that but if the officer thought he may be fleeing the scene of a crime then why would Moats have flashers on drawing attention to himself? And it is not like he ran the red light at top speed. He slowly moved through the intersection and looked both ways. I highly doubt if you are fleeing the scene that you would be so cautious.

 

[Chinfu]

Flashers, hysterical people, not stopping for a police officer only to stop in a hospital parking lot?

It doesn't take a detective here to put the pieces together for crying out loud.

 

[Lodeus]

can only go by what the story says was said, but it looks like Moats didn't help speed things a long very well either.

Both Moats and the officer seemed to contribute to things taking much longer than they should.

Would be nice to see the video.

Maybe he was a little upset is mother-in-law was dying

 

[Jon88]

Videos showing cops being total morons are becoming more widespread on mainstream news websites. Is this a turning point to where society is finally saying "Look, this behavior is getting old. Some of the dumbest people in America are policing the streets and it shows. We need to put our foot down and start exposing these idiots." They are definitely losing respect day by day with videos like this showing up about once a week now. You've got cops beating the hell out of teenage girls, cops shooting handcuffed people in the back, cops macing drive-thru employees, and this. Its ridiculous.

 

[juck]

stupid pigs!

 

[JVita17]

Just hope what goes around comes around but 10 times harder. This was Very VERY wrong on the cops part. Flashing Light + Hospital + The words DYING NOW should have rang a bell to the idoit cop.

 

[Everlastingxxx]

This stuff is upsetting, but nothing new with the guys with the badges.

 

[jrumann59]

I really do not see what the problem is, yeah the cop probably was alittle rude. Should he have pulled the gun, he was justified when a vehicle you were chasing ignores you for what looks like a few blocks and then pulls into a parking lot and people start streaming out of the vehicle, yeah the cop probably crapped himself. Remember the story about the 4 cops in Oakland just happened and I am sure cops are a little edgy. There are reasons why you are supposed to wait for the cop to approach your vehicle before you do things, cops are the most vulnerable during traffic stops because they have to think 2 things at a time, is this just routine or is their a gun pointed at me through the dark tint. Ultimately I put this on Moats and his wife and passenger and they cannot blame a cop for aiming a gun at them as they stream out of the vehicle with no concern for their safety.

 

[Jon88]

I really do not see what the problem is, yeah the cop probably was alittle rude. Should he have pulled the gun, he was justified when a vehicle you were chasing ignores you for what looks like a few blocks and then pulls into a parking lot and people start streaming out of the vehicle, yeah the cop probably crapped himself. Remember the story about the 4 cops in Oakland just happened and I am sure cops are a little edgy. There are reasons why you are supposed to wait for the cop to approach your vehicle before you do things, cops are the most vulnerable during traffic stops because they have to think 2 things at a time, is this just routine or is their a gun pointed at me through the dark tint. Ultimately I put this on Moats and his wife and passenger and they cannot blame a cop for aiming a gun at them as they stream out of the vehicle with no concern for their safety.

Well the police department is trying to do damage control right now so you're in the minority. I think he should be fired. He's definitely in it for the wrong reasons.