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frazzled wrote:

Charles L. Cotton wrote:I am sorry to see he resigned. I was critical of his actions in a prior post and I stand by my comments, especially as they refer to the negative impact on other Dallas PD Officers. I saw his interview last night on KHOU Ch. 11 and I accept his apology. He didn't try to justify his actions and he admitted that he acted poorly. He went on to say that he thought about how he would have felt if it had been his mother, and he would handle it differently if he had it to do over again. Unfortunately, none of us get a "do-over."

Many will claim his apology was not sincere, but an attempt to keep his job. Perhaps, perhaps not, none of us will know for sure. But that can be said about anyone's apology. What I saw was a 26 year old "kid" who has only been with DPD for three years. I suspect that he will never act that way towards a citizen again. I say this not based solely on the predicament he created for himself, but on my experience as recruiting director for the large firm I was with before starting my own law firm.

[flack vest on]

Respectfully,

Whether or not he apologized is irrelevant
Whether or not he was sincere is especially irrelevant.

He was an unfit employee and demonstrated complete incompetence. Like every other employee who acted incompetently, he should have been fired.

OK, we will remember that when someone on the forum makes a mistake and ban them immediately.

As to Officer Powell, depending on his past record, he may have needed to be relieved of duty as this was one more stone in the backpack. Unfortunately he didn't have much option as he was ostracized by the media and public. He felt it was a losing proposition and the only way out was to resign. Was he wrong in his actions and demeanor? Yes. Does he deserve to be relieved of duty? Possibly. But maybe counseling and coaching would be a better option and put him on probation if he has no previous history of abuse. We will now never know.

I am like Charles and believe you have to learn from your mistakes and grow. I sure have been given second and sometimes third chances on errors I made. I have passed along those courtesies to folks who worked for me. If not for giving another chance, I can guarantee the unemployment rate would be about 99%.

quidni wrote:

DEADEYE1964 wrote:I know a lot of good LEO'S and they hate this, they tell me it is hard enough to earn trust and this is a big set back when something like this happens and becomes so public.

There are far more good cops, at whatever level - city, county, state, federal - than there are bad cops. And IMO, the "good cops" have every right to be among the judges when the "bad cops" pull stuff like this, since they're the ones who ultimately have to deal with the public backlash. And when the public sees that LEOs are "policing" their own, that goes a long way toward restoring and reinforcing trust between law enforcement and the general population.

May God bless those who serve, in whatever service, by placing themselves between the general populace and harm's way.

This is how it should be. You should always be judged by a jury of your 'peers'. They understand what goes on out on the street and will be able to better asses the situation and appropriate punishment if it is needed. In this case, I think it is pretty cut and dried.

roberts wrote:

PsychDiver wrote:Why fight such a battle when a simple answer would do.

It looks like he would have got inside the hospital a lot quicker if he cooperated with the DPD officer.

Give me a break. Moates was trying to reason with the officer and the officer was just being a jerk. He also was doing everything he could to prolong the encounter. Moates was distraught and IMO cooperating very much with the officer. Could you just stand there and take a berating while a loved one was dying a few hundred feet away? I know I couldn't.

Having former LEO experience, I will tell you IMO this is not the norm. While I will admit there are some of the 'my badge makes me all powerful' types, the majority are good folks doing their job and helping the public.

In this case, the LEO was just a jerk. He had no compassion. While you have to put up somewhat of a a shield on your emotions as an officer, total loss of them is a bad thing. Once it was verified what was going on, he should have backed down, understood the circumstances and allowed him to proceed . Had he stopped them away from the hospital, the verification of their story might have been a little more difficult. But once the nurse, guards and a Plano officer came out, it was totally clear the story was legit. No matter what, he should have kept a professional attitude during the incident, and he didn't.

All in all, there is no place for someone like this on a police force. His behavior is inexcusable and reflects on all officers in supporting the public misconception that the police are only out there to cause you trouble and give you a hassle.