The NFL Couple Talk About Their Dallas Run In
EmailLast week we blogged about Ryan Moats and his run in with a police officer in Dallas. Moats — who is an NFL player – was racing his wife to the hospital after being told her mother had only moments to live. They were pulled over for blowing a red light. The verbal battle between them and the officer was caught on tape. The officer did not want to let them go into the hospital despite the circumstances. There was some pretty outraged responses on our blog over this.
Today, Good Morning America spoke with Ryan Moats and his wife: "When you’re in a situation like that you don’t think how serious it is," Tamishia Moats said. "He could have shot me. He was pointing the gun at me and saying don’t take another step." "When I got out, I thought, if I explain it to him, maybe he will understand," Ryan Moats said. "I was thinking maybe he could walk up with me and let me say my good byes. I didn’t have a problem with paying the ticket."
Tamishia Moats made it in time to the hospital room. Ryan did not.
The officer – who was officially punished – put out a written statement admitting to showing "poor judgment". Tamishia Moats responded this way: "It would be comforting if we heard an apology directly from him," she said. "But we definitely would accept his apology because, you know, he’s a human being."
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“…he’s a human being.”
A key point to keep in mind about police officers. They are not infallible nor inherently better than anyone else. So they should be both cut some slack by the public AND supervised and held to the same standards as everyone else.
The best police department is one that dismisses one or two (a very small percentage) of their force every year or two due to incompetence or bad judgment; never trust a company that has never fired someone.
Posted by: jhw539 | March 30, 2009, 1:43 pm 1:43 pm
It is incidents like this that make it hard for me to tell my young black male students that if they do everything that society requires of them that they will be treated like humans and not like vermin. Moats is so blessed to be alive. My students have many friends who didn’t survive their meeting with police for traffic violations. George Ryan may have stopped the murder of convicted criminals but no one is putting a moratorium on the killing of Black traffic violators.
Posted by: Lightfoot | March 30, 2009, 3:24 pm 3:24 pm
thanks
Posted by: ajay | March 30, 2009, 4:33 pm 4:33 pm
Earlier i was testing and the thanks went thru anyway regarding the nfl lplayer i would like to say that cops should not be brain washed in there training because they forget being human in traffic stops which i call its ” monkey business ‘ they should be taught to be logical and have sense then similar situations will never occur 2 years ago similar thing happened with a pregnant women in kansas when she was asked to lie down in cold weather on ground that she lost her child i think the whole system is wicked these things are outrageous where a cop cannot make a decision he should not be put on duty i think thats why the cops get shot many times with bad people becoz they make bad choices with them i think any body can be bad if you treat them wrong
Posted by: ajay | March 30, 2009, 4:43 pm 4:43 pm
The decision for the policeman to take the time to walk in the hospital with a non threaten person is pure common sense., hey Mr. policeman, where’s your mother?……… any of us WHO do not have or use common sense, very poor choices will be made, I have worked in hospitals for 39 years and never have I ever not thought of the other person’s feelings or if I could help. The policeman is either a kid who’s parents did not train him, along with the Dallas dept. and/or even an older man which makes him a fool, that’s why we forgive. WHAT GOES AROUND…COMES AROUND
Posted by: DKM | March 30, 2009, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm
The Moats’ are very gracious in accepting that officers apology. I wish law enforcement officials would be human, and not acting as if they were above the law.
Posted by: Kathryn | March 30, 2009, 5:01 pm 5:01 pm
and let me add a couple I found amusing. Once I was going down I-75 to downtown Cincinnati and I noticed a vehicle fast approaching behind me. It slowed and I kept driving. As I was leaving one municipality and entering another the car exited. You guessed right, it was a police car. He flashed his spot light on my Porsche as he exited the freeway. I laughed all the way into Cincinnati. Though he had sent a clear message I was amused.
Posted by: Walt | March 30, 2009, 5:15 pm 5:15 pm
In our county,Croatia,
all police officers and “Boby” are
indeed very civil and we had,have no
such problems at all.If we have some
reports with them,there is no sticks!
Regardes from Zagreb,V.J.
Posted by: Vesna Jelavić,M.D. | March 30, 2009, 5:24 pm 5:24 pm
I have not read any comments, but I do believe that Tamishia Moats shows what a compassionate, kind human being that she is by saying that she would accept an apopogy from the officer, that he’s only human. Mr and Mrs Moats, you are a class act.
Posted by: Thomas R. Zielinski | March 30, 2009, 8:10 pm 8:10 pm
The Moats are truly an example of tact and graciousness. This woman was losing and lost her mother without her sole mate by her side. Mr Moats said that he himself wanted to say his goodbyes to his mother in law (his momma too!) and of course he wanted to be by his wifes side too! Come on!!!! For real? I guess you learn something new everyday and they have taught me real forgiveness. Thank you Ryan & Tamishia for showing that there are REAL people out there with REAL heart. Maybe you could lend a little to officer “Fife”.
Posted by: Crystal Brooks | March 30, 2009, 10:55 pm 10:55 pm
Yes, indeed, this couple is a class act. And I bet the fact they’ve reacted the way they have may make the officer genuinely feel bad.
I worked — briefly — as a police officer many years ago. After that, I worked a long time as a security patrol officer in Dallas and worked with the Dallas PD virtually daily. While I can’t speak for the department today as other than as a friendly outsider with almost 100% positive memories, I believe the DPD is a very, very fine one.
This officer disgraced not only himself, nor just his fellow officers, but the entire department — and, by extension (at least in some people’s minds), Dallas as a city along with all its citizens. His own blog entries as he approached graduation from academy are disturbing (and yes, I’ve read them, as well as watched the police video of this episode).
He should be dismissed and not permitted to work in law enforcement anywhere, at any level, ever again. I know he’s young, and an officer for just three years, but given how grotesque this situation was, there’s really no apology for him — though one from him is different.
Posted by: Mekhong Kurt | March 31, 2009, 6:15 am 6:15 am
While realizing that the Moats did not cause a traffic accident where more people could have been hurt, and the fact that they were being cautious, let’s face it folks, they did break the law. Now, the officer was very offensive, and should have taken everything into consideration, but he was partly doing his job. He showed no compassion or empathy for the family, and that should be counted against him.
Posted by: kizzy | March 31, 2009, 8:32 am 8:32 am
Oh please, if this was anyone BUT an NFL player, it would have never made the news, never mind WORLD NEWS, NBC, CNN…please…give me a break. If my mother-in-law was dying and I was speeding, you think I would be gettign this attention! He broke the law, (probably not the first time he did). The Cop was doing his job! Unbelievable. This is ridiculous that this is making this much noise on the News! The Economy is News, not this!!!!
Posted by: Elaine | March 31, 2009, 9:06 am 9:06 am
Well lots of news shouldnt be news-from bill clintons BJ to Bidens daughter maybe doin coke-i dont give a crap-these things dont affect me-however-racist cops have been a problem and when they kill your kid over a red light you may call it news-and had the NFL player hit someone, it would have made the news too. Unless you are a minority you may not feel the hatred
Posted by: Naniam | March 31, 2009, 9:29 am 9:29 am
Elaine, he’s done this type of thing before to Zach Thomas’s wife (She’s Latino). The officer has apologized and said he would act differently. Where is it in the officer’s handbook where they can threaten to “screw you over” as this officer did? You have the right to your opinion, but I wonder when people refuse to see what is right in their face.
Posted by: clt | March 31, 2009, 11:42 am 11:42 am