Cop stops NFL Player as relative is dying

[RinglingRingling]

Wow.... someone got a screen shot of Powell's Xanga site before it was deleted: http://mountainsageblog.com/2009/03/26/ ... ive-died/#

Quote from the site, a post made back in 2006:

Monday, August 28, 2006

The count downs begin:

18 days of work then the real work starts and I can shoot people

33 days then own apartment, with cable and high speed internet

This man does NOT need to be carrying a badge and a gun....

nice to know his priorities..

[docandjeanie]

What an absolute disgrace this guy and his wife are to every good police officer out there. He should not have a job

[ragtopW]

Did y ou see the comment that stated that the statement
was a Form Letter???

[RinglingRingling]

Did y ou see the comment that stated that the statement
was a Form Letter???

read all the posts on that page Connie gave the link to, and came away with a couple thoughts:
a) most folks want him fired, and hopefully burned at the stake
b) some folks want the attorneys to suffer something untoward, at the very least mail-server crashing
c) some very few folks blindly support the guy
d) the sprinkling of LEOs on there want nothing to do with this guy and one even recommended the IA team turn the tape over to Federal authorities for evidence to build a violation of civil rights case
e) Powell was a disaster waiting to happen.

[Dezdmona]

Haven't read the thread, but as ETP mentioned on the first page it's HUGE news here.

My personal opinion is that certainly after the hospital personnel and a fellow officer asked Powell to let the guy go, he should have had some compassion for the situation. I do know Moats had his flashers on as he went through the red light, I don't know, but suspect he slowed down enough to see if anyone was comming before he went through the intersection.

Once Powell told Moats "I can screw you over", he lost all credibility. Not just in this case, but in any future case he might be involved in. Any defense attorney will pull that tape and play it to discredit the Officer. He's toast, IMHO.

In case your interested, here's an Interview with Ryan Moats that he gave to a local radio station where he describes the situation, and how he went through the light...
(Plus a MySpace post by Powell's wife... )

Powell has power & control issues. If he can react this way with a fellow officer & hospital staff pleading with him to let these people go, imagine his behavior in a crisis situation. :shiver:

[ph4ever]

Zach Thomas: Same Dallas officer mistreated my wife

NFL linebacker says line was crossed in 2008 traffic stop; Powell's attorney sees no improper actions

08:59 AM CDT on Sunday, March 29, 2009

By TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News
tarcher@dallasnews.com

Maritza Thomas, the wife of NFL linebacker Zach Thomas, saw a familiar face as she watched the video of Officer Robert Powell detaining Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats as he and his family rushed to a hospital to see a dying loved one. That face was Powell's.

On July 27, 2008, while her husband was at training camp with the Cowboys in Oxnard, Calif., Maritza Thomas was pulled over by Powell for an illegal U-turn near NorthPark Center.

Maritza Thomas was issued five tickets by Powell, four of which were later dismissed. Thomas was handcuffed, placed in the back of a police cruiser, spent about three hours in the Dallas County Jail and was threatened with the possibility of spending the night behind bars.

MORE

[diverg]

An article in today's Dallas Morning News stating in the majority of cases in dash cameras help out the cops in claims of abuse.

Also I guess if you are going to get pulled over in Dallas you better hop its is by a an older seasoned cop then a young one. A quote from this article.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 1b5b2.html

"According to several Dallas police officers, many young officers share Powell's assessment of the incident. Seasoned officers who have seen the video, including most members of the command staff, said they were aghast and embarrassed at Powell's conduct. "

[ph4ever]

An article in today's Dallas Morning News stating in the majority of cases in dash cameras help out the cops in claims of abuse.

Also I guess if you are going to get pulled over in Dallas you better hop its is by a an older seasoned cop then a young one. A quote from this article.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 1b5b2.html

"According to several Dallas police officers, many young officers share Powell's assessment of the incident. Seasoned officers who have seen the video, including most members of the command staff, said they were aghast and embarrassed at Powell's conduct. "

DPD had relaxed it's hiring standards to the point they were hiring officers with questionable backgrounds including criminal histories. In 2006 they lost 175 officers through attrition. According to PoliceOne.com, in 2007 they relaxed their hiring standards to include allowing officers who had distant experimental heroin and cocaine use in their past. Seems to me that they need to strengthen their hiring standards.

[Brown Eyed Girl]

An article in today's Dallas Morning News stating in the majority of cases in dash cameras help out the cops in claims of abuse.

Also I guess if you are going to get pulled over in Dallas you better hop its is by a an older seasoned cop then a young one. A quote from this article.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 1b5b2.html

"According to several Dallas police officers, many young officers share Powell's assessment of the incident. Seasoned officers who have seen the video, including most members of the command staff, said they were aghast and embarrassed at Powell's conduct. "

DPD had relaxed it's hiring standards to the point they were hiring officers with questionable backgrounds including criminal histories. In 2006 they lost 175 officers through attrition. According to PoliceOne.com, in 2007 they relaxed their hiring standards to include allowing officers who had distant experimental heroin and cocaine use in their past. Seems to me that they need to strengthen their hiring standards.

And stop using personality tests designed by Dr. Phil.....

[ph4ever]

Dallas police officer resigns over Ryan Moats' traffic stop
01:03 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 1, 2009
By STEVE THOMPSON / The Dallas Morning News
stevethompson@dallasnews.com

The Dallas police officer who has been the target of national ridicule for detaining an NFL player as his mother-in-law was dying resigned Wednesday, according to a statement issued through his attorneys.

MORE

[Brown Eyed Girl]

I'm sure he'll be picked up by some like minded department that thinks he's a hero. God help us all...

[Spider Johnson]

I am sure he had a choice...RESIGN OR BE FIRED!

Hopefully something potentially good will come out of this. I hope he and other officers have hopefully learned a lesson. Not just in Dallas but around the World.

I also hope that none of the bad guys will use this in the future as an excuse to target any officer.

The police have a hard and dangerous enough job as it is.

[ph4ever]

I'm sure he'll be picked up by some like minded department that thinks he's a hero. God help us all...

Of course - most likely in the DFW area. Either that or the TABC.

[RinglingRingling]

I'm sure he'll be picked up by some like minded department that thinks he's a hero. God help us all...

Of course - most likely in the DFW area. Either that or the TABC.

he sounds like perfect tabc material.

[nutmeg]

Zach Thomas: Same Dallas officer mistreated my wife

NFL linebacker says line was crossed in 2008 traffic stop; Powell's attorney sees no improper actions

08:59 AM CDT on Sunday, March 29, 2009

By TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News
tarcher@dallasnews.com

Maritza Thomas, the wife of NFL linebacker Zach Thomas, saw a familiar face as she watched the video of Officer Robert Powell detaining Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats as he and his family rushed to a hospital to see a dying loved one. That face was Powell's.

On July 27, 2008, while her husband was at training camp with the Cowboys in Oxnard, Calif., Maritza Thomas was pulled over by Powell for an illegal U-turn near NorthPark Center.

Maritza Thomas was issued five tickets by Powell, four of which were later dismissed. Thomas was handcuffed, placed in the back of a police cruiser, spent about three hours in the Dallas County Jail and was threatened with the possibility of spending the night behind bars.

MORE

They took her to jail for a u turn??? Crap! They take traffic offenses seriously in Texas

This whole situation is just so ridiculous. If the policeman was so darned determined to give the guy a ticket he should have escorted him up to the room and waited outside for the final goodbyes. But anyone with any compassion would have let them go as soon as he found out the situation.

Glad to hear he resigned....Hope his replacement is a decent human being....

[ph4ever]

Zach Thomas: Same Dallas officer mistreated my wife

NFL linebacker says line was crossed in 2008 traffic stop; Powell's attorney sees no improper actions

08:59 AM CDT on Sunday, March 29, 2009

By TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News
tarcher@dallasnews.com

Maritza Thomas, the wife of NFL linebacker Zach Thomas, saw a familiar face as she watched the video of Officer Robert Powell detaining Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats as he and his family rushed to a hospital to see a dying loved one. That face was Powell's.

On July 27, 2008, while her husband was at training camp with the Cowboys in Oxnard, Calif., Maritza Thomas was pulled over by Powell for an illegal U-turn near NorthPark Center.

Maritza Thomas was issued five tickets by Powell, four of which were later dismissed. Thomas was handcuffed, placed in the back of a police cruiser, spent about three hours in the Dallas County Jail and was threatened with the possibility of spending the night behind bars.

MORE

They took her to jail for a u turn??? Crap! They take traffic offenses seriously in Texas

This whole situation is just so ridiculous. If the policeman was so darned determined to give the guy a ticket he should have escorted him up to the room and waited outside for the final goodbyes. But anyone with any compassion would have let them go as soon as he found out the situation.

Glad to hear he resigned....Hope his replacement is a decent human being....

Not normally. That being said anyone can be jailed on a Class c misdemeanor but normally the cop is going to write you a ticket and send you on your way. I'm thinking Dallas had a bad cop with Powell - if you read the whole story you find that Maritza Thomas is Hispanic.

But then there's also this bumper sticker that pretty much says it all

[nutmeg]

Zach Thomas: Same Dallas officer mistreated my wife

NFL linebacker says line was crossed in 2008 traffic stop; Powell's attorney sees no improper actions

08:59 AM CDT on Sunday, March 29, 2009

By TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News
tarcher@dallasnews.com

Maritza Thomas, the wife of NFL linebacker Zach Thomas, saw a familiar face as she watched the video of Officer Robert Powell detaining Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats as he and his family rushed to a hospital to see a dying loved one. That face was Powell's.

On July 27, 2008, while her husband was at training camp with the Cowboys in Oxnard, Calif., Maritza Thomas was pulled over by Powell for an illegal U-turn near NorthPark Center.

Maritza Thomas was issued five tickets by Powell, four of which were later dismissed. Thomas was handcuffed, placed in the back of a police cruiser, spent about three hours in the Dallas County Jail and was threatened with the possibility of spending the night behind bars.

MORE

They took her to jail for a u turn??? Crap! They take traffic offenses seriously in Texas

This whole situation is just so ridiculous. If the policeman was so darned determined to give the guy a ticket he should have escorted him up to the room and waited outside for the final goodbyes. But anyone with any compassion would have let them go as soon as he found out the situation.

Glad to hear he resigned....Hope his replacement is a decent human being....

Not normally. That being said anyone can be jailed on a Class c misdemeanor but normally the cop is going to write you a ticket and send you on your way. I'm thinking Dallas had a bad cop with Powell - if you read the whole story you find that Maritza Thomas is Hispanic.

But then there's also this bumper sticker that pretty much says it all

I'm pretty much terrified of driving most of the time anyway...you can be darn sure I wil NEVER be driving there.

[12vmanRick]

Move to Forsyth Co Georgia if you want to see real abuse of power by police

[docandjeanie]

I'm glad he resigned.