Running a red light is more important than your dying mother-in-law

[MaindotC]

Officer who detained Moats shouldn't see the streets again

http://is.gd/paYs

By MJD

Here's the unedited police video of Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats being detained by a Dallas police officer while his mother-in-law was inside the hospital drawing her last breaths.

Now, I don't want professional athletes to get any preferential treatment from the law, but is it too much to ask that they get the "normal human being treatment"? Is it too much to ask for even the most basic of human compassion?

You can see it all for yourself in the above video. The officer refusing for about five minutes to even acknowledge what Moats is saying about his mother-in-law. His making it a point to inform Moats of all the ways he has the power to make his life difficult. The complete lack of sensitivity.

It's even worse than what you see there, though. What you don't see is that the officer drew his gun on Moats and his wife as they explained that a family member was inside the hospital dying.

I'm trying to see the cop's point of view here, but I just can't. Where's the danger? Where's the great risk to society? Did Moats drive to a hospital parking lot as part of an elaborate ruse to get away with cautiously rolling through a red light? At a certain point, doesn't an officer have to step back and say, "What am I doing here? Am I helping or hurting? How does this protect and serve anything other than my own inflated sense of authority?"

There had to be something he could do to get Moats out of there quicker. There had to be a better option than to put on 14-minute display of his mighty authority as a police officer.

The Dallas police department seems to be in agreement, too, as they've reassigned the officer to a Farva-like dispatch job. The ticket issued to Moats was dismissed, and a Dallas police lieutenant said of the officer in question, "There were some things that were said that were disturbing, to say the least."

Should the guy be fired? As always, opinions vary. Some say yes, some say no. Maybe it's punishment enough that the guy's going to have to live with the fact that he denied a man the ability to hold a loved one's hand as she passed away. But for that to qualify as punishment, the officer would have to have some sense of human compassion, and maybe I missed it, but I see absolutely no sign of that in the video.

A dispatch job sounds about right. Either that, or something in the department of cleaning cells. I think it was pretty clearly demonstrated in that video that he lacks the decision-making ability to be on the streets. I don't know if I'd trust that guy to check parking meters.

[Firestem4]

That is sick... An officer may have to uphold the law but they also need to do what is morally right.

[Kareeser]

By running the red, he could have caused an accident which could have killed or injured many other motorists.

It is not as though the 10 minutes he could've spent taking the ticket would've been the MIL's last ten minutes on earth.

Furthermore, if we let this slide now, what then? "I'm late for work! It's an emergency! I must run this red!"

Give me a break.

[linuxguymarshall]

I live about 40 minutes from this and was watching it on the local news tonight. It is absolutely horrible and supposedly the officer is to-be fired.

[MaxIBoy]

I'm with Kareeser on this. That law exists for a reason: running a red light could easily result in multiple fatalities. So every time someone wants an extra ten minutes with his mom (who is going to die anyway,) we should sacrifice the lives of three or four other motorists? In my opinion, that is unacceptable.


However, I do think that the patrolman should have made it quick. "Here's your ticket, sir. Show up in court at such-and-such a time. Don't do it again." 120 seconds at the most, and you're done. That's all it should take, even if the driver was merely late for work.

[Excedio]

If I was him I would have done the same thing...in fact...I have done the same thing when my grandfather was dying. I don't care what the law is...my dying family member takes precedence.


So every time someone wants an extra ten minutes with his mom (who is going to die anyway,)

I can believe someone would actually say such a thing. I'm sure if it were you in that position, you would have done it too...

[Ericyzfr1]

I just watched the video, the P.O did not take 2 seconds to hear their story. If he had doubts, why not going with them and write the ticket after??? I also saw a couple of posts that did not show any compassion, I just hope they will not find themselve in a similar situation.

[MaxIBoy]

If I was him I would have done the same thing...in fact...I have done the same thing when my grandfather was dying. I don't care what the law is...my dying family member takes precedence.Damn the law, I'm talking about the people who might die if you cause a three-car pileup. If you forgot your driver's license and illegally drove to the hospital without it, that's fine with me, but if you put other people's lives in danger by driving recklessly, I'm going to say you deserve the ticket and the fine.

[Excedio]

Damn the law, I'm talking about the people who might die if you cause a three-car pileup. If you forgot your driver's license and illegally drove to the hospital without it, that's fine with me, but if you put other people's lives in danger by driving recklessly, I'm going to say you deserve the ticket and the fine.

My situation was nealry the same as what you saw in the video minus the police. Mine happened at midnight when there was nearly no one on the road...and I did not just blow through a light and neither did he. Slow down...check to see if anyone is comin and GO! No lives harmed...but peace of mind is there with a dying family member.

[MaindotC]

I can see Maxi and Kareeser's viewpoints, infuriating me as they may be, but I think given the situation the police officer could have let him handle his business and then given him the blasted ticket. C'mon - the guy is going to a HOSPITAL. Yes, the law does exist for a reason and he ran a red light so he should be ticketed. This certainly could have been a difficult situation because they could have been some criminal organization taking a hostage into the hospital as a safe-harbor and then the police would really have a mess on their hands. Unfortunately, I don't think this situation warranted the actions taken by the police officer.

Once the guy drives to a hospital and gets out of the car saying "my mother is dying", then he needs to check himself and consider the possibility that someone is going to die if they don't get into the hospital - in this case it was Moats to sign the resucitate order. And you guys can say up and down that the police officer did his job but guess what, when the police officer's wife is in need of immediate help, the rules are gonna go out the window for that cop and he, sure as any of us are born, is going to drive as fast as possible to get to the hospital. When he's pulled over by the police he probably knows the police aren't going to shoot at him (or at least shouldn't unless you're a BART officer facing a detained suspect) and run into the hospital and take care of the ticket later. THE TICKET CAN BLEEPING WAIT wile Moats goes to sign the resucitate order. It's not that important.

What really gets to me is Moats has pulled into a hospital, made it clear that his mother is dying, and the cop wants to throw in his little "I can screw you really bad if I wanted to" threats. What the hell kind of way is that to talk to someone who's mother is laying on her deathbed? The police officer has every right to ticket Moats, but I think he also have every right to be tried and convicted of first degree murder.

[MaindotC]

Furthermore, if we let this slide now, what then? "I'm late for work! It's an emergency! I must run this red!"

Give me a break.

There is no such "slippery slope" in this instance. Any medical emergency should be treated as Moats did and I regret the fact that he didn't have flashing lights on his car to indicate it was an emergency vehicle. Emergencies are very clearly defined which is why society has ambulances. Obviously he's not going to wait for the ambulance to maybe or maybe not show up (try getting an ambulance in NYC) so he put on his flashers and took his mom to the hospital. That's an emergency, not being late for work and you know better.

[gnomeuser]

Your personal tragedy does not elevate you above the law, by ignoring the law you risk making someone else's mother-in-law dead. Nothing allows you to gamble with other peoples lives, do so with your own only please.

Part of why we have these kinds of rules is to make traffic predictable, if everyone was to start ignoring them for incidents deemed personally important that predictability goes out the window and along with it the safety for the collective.

People close to me have lost loved ones to people proceeding with such thought, it is by far much easier to understand their anger and grief at being deprived the chance to enjoy a full life with their loved ones or being able to say goodbye than feeble excuses of an idiot with a momentary need.

[blueturtl]

What gnomeuser said. Plus how is this related to Ubuntu or open-source software?

[suitedaces]

No-one's saying he should have got off (that I can see anyway), but surely he could have waited to give him the ticket?

[capnthommo]

hi
this one seems sensible to me

If he had doubts, why not going with them and write the ticket after???
i seem to recall seeing in movies and tv many years ago, occasional stories where a person had to, for example, drive their pregnant wife to hospital because she was in labour. the inevitable happened and a policeman pulled them for speeding and when made aware of the situation would then assume the role of escort - sirens and lights etc, (pretty much what the above suggests, yes?). that way the truth or falsity of the situation was established and it ensured that the remainder of the trip was as safe as reasonably possible. and if it turned out to be a ruse then the officer was on the spot to nick the crim.
i take the point about laws, but are laws for the service of mankind or mankind for the service of law?
i believe the law should be applied with fairness and, importantly, compassion. law must be interpreted on a case by case basis - it is not simply a set of absolute rules which apply equally in each and every case regardless of circumstance. clearly a dying close relative is different from 'i'm late for work' and i am sure everyone wold appreciate that.
sorry, i shall dismount from my high horse now and let somebody else have the floor.
cheers
nigel

[bapoumba]

Closed for Staff review.

Edit: the thread will remain closed. This story can be debated to the end of time and still be up to the Judicial system.