The Blogshevik

The Ryan Moats Tragedy & The Dallas Police Debacle When Cops Go Stupid

FULL DASH CAM VIDEO BELOW

Houston Texan Ryan Moats

I’ve been watching the news this morning about the car stop initiated on Houston Texan football player Ryan Moats in Plano, Tx. It’s been the major story for a number of networks. Apparently, the public’s response doesn’t look good for the Dallas Police Department.

While watching the morning news on FOX, one segment had two attorneys on to debate the issue. It wasn’t until these two attorneys started to open their cakeholes that I took exception to some of the crap networks seem to repeatedly force upon its viewers. Yes, the officer’s actions were ridiculous, yes he should have released Mr. Moats and allowed the family to spend the last few gargling breaths the mother-in-law had. Yes he was insensitive and yes he’s an idiot for taking the actions he took.

But…

One point of debate with these two “attorneys” dealt with the action of  the officer removing his weapon from its holster when the occupants bailed from the vehicle. They were both SHOCKED and DISMAYED that something like that could happen in THIS COUNTRY!

Uhh, ok.

Now, I understand that attorneys possess an intelligent quotient rivaled only by that of the common garden slug, so the comments that follow are aimed at the normal individual who hasn’t chewed leaded paint-chips or gnawed on painted windowsills as a pre-teen.

Imagine yourself as a cop for a moment. You’re on patrol and employed by an agency that has, in the past, had officers killed and wounded in the performance of their duty. It’s common knowledge that work as a police officer is inherently dangerous, no? You spot a vehicle blow through a light or a stop sign and maybe the vehicle is speeding in the process. It clearly wasn’t an “oopsie” moment and it was obvious the vehicle intentionally blew through the light or stop-sign while ignoring the speed limit. We, as law abiding citizens know and understand why all these safety measures are in place, they save lives. If you’ve ever had to scrape body parts off of the roadway with a shovel, you know how important these measures are.

So you, as the officer, light the vehicle up and initiate a stop. The vehicle doesn’t yield and continues on course. The vehicle eventually stops and people start to pile out of the vehicle.

Follow along here, no bouncing ball this time.

You exit your vehicle spilling your Krispy Kreme, cup of coffee, or maybe you’re still inside your police unit gathering the tools needed to accomplish the dirty deed of issuing a citation. You notice the mass exodus of individuals from the vehicle and a barely audible squeak makes an immediate egress from your butt-hole.  Your mind reverts to the teachings of your training officer or from your years of experience and you unleash the monster you affectionately call the beast (In my case, it was a beautiful Sig Sauer P220). Instead of screwing it into the ear of the bad guy,  maybe you just place your service weapon in your hand, ready for action just in case. Is that something you find preposterous? Do you take exception to that kind of safety measure? What happens if the occupants that bailed from the vehicle did have weapons or did have evil intentions? What happens if the officer in question fails to take action to protect himself?

Well, sometimes it’s resulted in police officers losing their lives and that, my law abiding friends, is never a good thing.

It’s my opinion the Dallas Police Officer in question, Robert Powell, was justified in removing his weapon from its holster and having it at the ready, to simply prevent the situation from taking a turn for the worse. Rut Roh…Worse you say? Yeah, like a sucking chest wound and a ruined uniform. If he hadn’t removed the weapon in this situation and it did turn into something akin to sitting for 2 hours listening to Celine Dion bark like a chihuahua, he’d be a bigger windowlicker than he already is.

Now, was he justified in keeping the Houston Texan’s football player Mr. Ryan Moats detained while he completed the citation, or even issuing a citation considering the circumstances?

Of course not.

Let me give you an example of something that has happened to me while employed as a police officer in California.

One evening I initiated a stop on a vehicle that not only ignored a red light at a major intersection but was exceeding the speed limit by at least 20 miles per hour. I can’t remember the exact speed, but the vehicle had a rooster tail of asphalt following closely behind. The vehicle continued until it turned into a community hospital that happened to be in my area of responsibility. The vehicle stopped in front of the hospitals lobby and the driver immediately exited the vehicle, moving quickly to the front doors. I rather forcibly “asked” the driver to halt and approach my vehicle. Accomplishing something like a “curly shuffle“, the driver did as told and quickly aimed his rather large frame towards my unit, closing the distance in what seemed like a nano-second.

What do you think I did? I’ll give you a second….don’t take your time.

Let me clue you in on what goes through a police officers mind when faced with a situation like this. Enter my mind for a moment….it’s safe, honest. Just don’t linger too long.

The Thought Process:

1. He bailed, where’s he going?

2. Hmmm, Hospital. Is he injured, sick, visiting someone or is he just a shitbird, evading arrest.

3. Ok, he’s coming back, quickly…is he distraught, is he pissed, look at his eyes, look at his body language, is he armed, is he going to ventilate my ass like a colander on crack?

4. Ok, remove weapon just in case, today isn’t a good day to die. Baked Chicken, she said baked chicken tonight, I like baked chicken….weapon…how close is he….stop him.

5. What’s behind him, anyone…..building, if I miss, where’s the slug going to go….how close is he, closer, command him to stop….his hands, what’s in his hands…..weapon…no, keys…lots of keys, alarm pad….is he stopping, yes, he stopped….how far…good, door of unit blocking my torso….wonder if she’s going to have mashed potatos with the chicken.

6. He’s crying, somethings wrong, is he 51-50…what’s he babbling on about….mom….dying….hands, look at his hands, waist band….nothing. Ok, contain this….ID..ask for ID. Have him move towards the front of the unit, place ID on hood.

Everything listed above was accomplished in matter of seconds. My decision process lasted no longer than it took you to read this sentence. That’s how long it takes to remain alive sometimes when you’re doing the “protect and to serve” thing. If you’re unable to quickly assess a situation as a police officer you’re either dead, or really should consider a career in something safer, like a mall cop.

These are the facts:

I don’t know you. I don’t know if you just carved up your insurance agent with a chainsaw, I don’t know if your mom is dying and honestly, I really couldn’t give a rat’s ass what’s happening in your life. I’m worried about how I feel or how I’ll feel following this encounter. I’m just doing my job and I’m damn well planning on surviving this meeting and taking advantage of that baked chicken when my shift is over.

The above car stop did happen. The man turned out to be unarmed and no threat to me or anyone else. His mother was indeed dying in the hospital after suffering a stroke. He was released to join his mother and the hospital staff as she lay dying. I kept his ID until hospital staff confirmed the story. He wasn’t cited, counseled or given a tongue lashing for violating the California Vehicle Code. The dispatch staff actually sent the gentleman a card of condolence to the address annotated on his vehicle registration provided by the DMV.

Could the incident above ended differently had the situation been reversed and the subject turned out to be a zipperhead? Absolutely, and it has. I’ve initiated stops that have ended much differently, that have had much sadder endings for a lot of people. The one thing they have in common though is that I treated each and every one of them like it was my last.

Now, Officer Robert Powell. What’s this blogger’s opinion of Powell’s behavior?

Insulting and pathetic.

Was the stop justified? Of course. Were his actions  justified and accomplished according to his training when faced with numerous individuals bailing out of the vehicle in question? Absolutely.

Were his actions following the initial contact  justified and accomplished according to the training he received at the police academy and the following period of probationary training? Absolutely NOT.

There’s a mantra many police officers live by called the “spirit of the law and the letter of the law”. When you become a police officer you swear to protect and to serve, common knowledge amongst police officers and citizens alike. You learn through extensive training that sometimes it’s best to recognize a situation for what it is. You have the ability to either uphold the letter of the law, point by point, or you can recognize that the intent to break a law wasn’t actually a premeditated attempt to flaunt the laws of our country, state or jurisdiction and instead, incorporate the spirit of the law. You boo boo’ed and that’s all. Robert Powell violated one of the two rules we live by, it wasn’t  “protect” as he was obviously doing his job. Excessive speed and violation of traffic laws kill thousands of citizens every year. He violated something I believe is even more important than most of the laws currently on the books. He violated the trust and the “serve”.

Why, we ask, did Dallas Police Officer Powell qualify his actions as “just doing his job”? Did he have a bad day? Was he worried about quotas? (GASP!!! Did he just say “QUOTAS”?) Yes, he did…except they aren’t called “quotas”. They’re called “Stats”. If your “stats” aren’t in line with others on your shift, you’re often “called on the carpet”. Is he just an “idjit” that passed his written, oral and psyche and then fooled everyone he worked with and for into thinking he was “normal”?

It isn’t serving the public when you act like a jack-booted thug, it isn’t serving the public when you display an attitude usually reserved for people sans a conscience. Mr. Powell may very well lose his job due to his actions and Dallas PD would be justified in asking for his badge. He wasn’t a probationary officer, that only lasts about a year or so. He was a veteran of Dallas PD according to news reports and a badge holder for three years. That’s enough time to learn the ins-and-outs of upholding the law of the land and serving the public. You aren’t allowed to have “bad days” as a police officer. When your actions can either save or take a life, you have to be on the top of your game every day. Having a bad day might work in an office cubicle, but it doesn’t work when you’re sporting a firearm, badge and the trust of the citizens you serve.

Are some police agencies employing bad officers? Of course they are, but so do hospitals, government (duh), schools, roofing contractors and hardware stores. You have bad doctors, teachers, politicians, plumbers, roofers and mechanics. Then again, you have good, honest people doing the very same things every day.

Attorneys, you also have some go….

[crickets]

nevermind

Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle

I applaud Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle for taking the high road and apologizing for Officer Powell’s actions in such an expedient manner. As the “stud duck” of the Dallas Police Department, Chief Kunkle needs to maintain the trust and respect of those he swore an oath to serve. I think the Chief’s only option is to remove Officer Powell from the rolls. Does Chief Kunkle need an officer that exhibits such poor judgment, not a short burst of poor judgment, mind you, but a prolonged instance of incredibly stupid judgment? Officers like Powell endanger themselves, the public and other officers. The full of ‘piss and vinegar” cops are the ones that place agencies in the spotlight and that spotlight is often quite blinding, and never good.

You make the call. I already did.

There are a number of young men and women who would gargle glass to sport a badge from the Dallas PD, who do possess common sense and a deep yearning to serve the public rather than a pathological desire to dominate; it’s not like Powell can’t be replaced. To do anything less is disingenuous.

To the attorneys on FOX….for God’s sake, STFU!

And so it goes…