Inexcusable behavior by DPD officer

[tfrazier]

Okay, I give up after this: Show me where it gives a peace officer any warrantless arrest authority above what is stated for peace officers AND citizens.

And yes, it was a small class, but it still sounded good!

[stevie_d_64]

You know...I kept quiet on this one...(Strange, I know!)

But it appears that the officer has apologized, and a sincere acceptance by the offended was publicaly rendered and the media just reported this...

The officer has probably been given a serious attitude adjustment, and that I believe everyone has learned a very good lesson from all of this...

Everyone needs to dig deep down on this one and understand that it may not have been the plan for these folks to say goodbye to a loved one...And that that understanding should encompass some faith and the grace to know that you should snap to this and let it roll off your back...

There have been several times where I was rushing to a friend or not even close to get to a loved one to say goodbye...Although it was upsetting every single time, I took a step back, and let it go because I knew our friendship and caring never ended when they passed on...

Matter of fact, FoxNews is about to talk about this very thing here in a bit...Just saw the lead in...

[jbirds1210]

Okay, I give up after this: Show me where it gives a peace officer any warrantless arrest authority above what is stated for peace officers AND citizens.

And yes, it was a small class, but it still sounded good!

Code Of Criminal Procedure

Art. 14.01. OFFENSE WITHIN VIEW. (a) A peace officer or any other person, may, without a warrant, arrest an offender when the offense is committed in his presence or within his view, if the offense is one classed as a felony or as an offense against the public peace.

(b) A peace officer may arrest an offender without a warrant for any offense committed in his presence or within his view


I was instructed that (b) set apart the arrest powers as it clearly states that they (peace officers) may arrest for any offense. Other than that.....we might just have to agree to disagree. Thanks for the discussion and I apologize for taking things too far off topic.

Jason

[tfrazier]

Well, I believe you've sunk my battleship! I don't mind losing...as long as it isn't a gun fight!

[KD5NRH]

I was instructed that (b) set apart the arrest powers as it clearly states that they (peace officers) may arrest for any offense. Other than that.....we might just have to agree to disagree. Thanks for the discussion and I apologize for taking things too far off topic.

Don't forget that sheriffs aren't even supposed to get discretion:
Art. 2.17. [41] [48] [49] CONSERVATOR OF THE PEACE. Each sheriff shall be a conservator of the peace in his county, and shall arrest all offenders against the laws of the State, in his view or hearing, and take them before the proper court for examination or trial. He shall quell and suppress all assaults and batteries, affrays, insurrections and unlawful assemblies. He shall apprehend and commit to jail all offenders, until an examination or trial can be had.

[flynbenny]

Ok, back to the original topic... after viewing the video, Mr Moats did not stop his vehicle when the officer lit him up. In fact he ran two stop signs while officer Powell was behind him, and also did not signal any turns. He was clearly violating the law. After pulling into a parking space at the hospital, Mrs Moats exits the vehicle with another passenger and then Mr Moats appears in the camera's field of view. Not cool. You never get out of the vehicle unless the officer orders you to do so. I did it once (I was 17) and saw the business end of a S&W 9mm. Officer Powell had every right to draw his weapon the way I see it, he had no way of knowing if the occupants of the vehicle meant him harm. Now they drove to a hospital entrance, so obviously something's up, and the conversation begins amongst Mr Moats and officer Powell. I agree that officer Powell could have handled it better, especially after being contacted by the nurse. He should have let Mr Moats go be with his dying relative and perhaps educate Mr Moats on traffic laws and proper behaviour during a traffic stop at a more opportune time.

However, I'm tired of watching the media (the 'drive bys') and some the of the public piling on officer Powell. Now anyone who has a beef with him is turning up on the nightly news too. Even on this forum I see people bashing him and authority in general. He's a public servant who risks his life to protect the good people of Dallas, he just needs to learn a little humility and have more compassion, and remember that like I underlined he's a servant and exists to help and aid society, not rule it. He's apologized, and I hope learned an important lesson. I think he should keep his job too.

For the record, I'm not a cop, I'm just a airplane mechanic and a 22yr old kid. My faith teaches me that I am to obey and respect the authority that has been placed over me. Law enforcement may be one of the most difficult careers there is, and I highly respect the men and women who serve us, risking their lives, health, and fortunes(lawsuits/legal action) to keep us safe. Just my $0.02 y'all.

[DEADEYE1964]

I think he deserves to have the crap beat out of him and with his attitude, he will get it. His job is to serve and protect, not abuse his power with his badge. Like I said in another post, several more reports are coming out about this guy, it was not an isolated incident. There will be more reports, do you think he just started being a jerk that day ?

I agree with the majority of posters that the Officer did not handle this well. However, I have seen at least two posts with the highlighted statement above which I think is totally inappropriate.

Agreed. He needs to be disciplined as any employee. Anyone who thinks he needs to be assualted is thinking from emotion, and needs to take a breath.

Emotion, you are probably correct, this kind of behavior gets me going. We will revisit this when more reports come out and we find out that he has abused people physically and emotionally. I am pretty sure if they keep looking, they will find several more abuse cases against this power munger. If I was a defense attorney, I would have every case pulled that this idiot was involved in and have every prosecution overturned.

Okay, I have taken a breath and still stand by my comments, this is not a cop that had a bad day, this is a guy that abuses the badge and does not care. Like I said early on, he will pull over the wrong guy one day and his attitude will get him in trouble.

[Purplehood]

I think he deserves to have the crap beat out of him and with his attitude, he will get it. His job is to serve and protect, not abuse his power with his badge. Like I said in another post, several more reports are coming out about this guy, it was not an isolated incident. There will be more reports, do you think he just started being a jerk that day ?

I agree with the majority of posters that the Officer did not handle this well. However, I have seen at least two posts with the highlighted statement above which I think is totally inappropriate.

Agreed. He needs to be disciplined as any employee. Anyone who thinks he needs to be assualted is thinking from emotion, and needs to take a breath.

Emotion, you are probably correct, this kind of behavior gets me going. We will revisit this when more reports come out and we find out that he has abused people physically and emotionally. I am pretty sure if they keep looking, they will find several more abuse cases against this power munger. If I was a defense attorney, I would have every case pulled that this idiot was involved in and have every prosecution overturned.

Okay, I have taken a breath and still stand by my comments, this is not a cop that had a bad day, this is a guy that abuses the badge and does not care. Like I said early on, he will pull over the wrong guy one day and his attitude will get him in trouble.

Where in the wide-world did that one come from? I too do not like the way that things were handled. Videos are great, but can be manipulated simply by deleting portions.
We first see a video where the Officer is apparently treating the folks outside the hospital in a less than stellar manner. Much later, some of us find out that not only did this guy break numerous traffic laws (for a reason, valid or not) but that he continued to do so after the Officer lit up his lights/sirens. We all know how we feel when we get cut-off on the road, as an Officer would you be any less annoyed when your lights/sirens are ignored?

I think overall the Officer failed to handle this correctly. But the notion that he needs to be beaten silly, or that by default he must abuse people physically is spurious reasoning at best.

[tfrazier]

... I think overall the Officer failed to handle this correctly. But the notion that he needs to be beaten silly, or that by default he must abuse people physically is spurious reasoning at best.

[stevie_d_64]

With the scrutiny Officer Powell has received from the media and the public, he should be concerned about his future in Law Enforcement...

The Dallas reporter that interviewed him recently rally hammered him...Those folks investigated him al the way back to his academy days...

A loose quote from a posting he made 18 days before he graduated says a lot...He was basically looking forward to finishing up his training, and getting out on the street to shoot people...

Which goes to show what you post on an internet accessable chat forums can and will find you again some day...And we have had a tremendous amount of discussion about that issue...

Officer Powell should get his day to explain further his conduct before, during and after this incident...That is the way it should be...And I would be appalled if he didn't before any punative action be taken on his ability to enforce the law in this state...

Law Enforcement is a tight community, and you guys and gals know I have my opinions about a lot of things, but you know I support the community 150%...

I bet I don't get an answer (publicly) to an ultimate gut-check question here:

"Would you work a shift with this guy, knowing what you know now, or may know before something like this could happen???"

Hindsight is 20/20, but this actually a pretty good lesson to be learned by anyone, regardless of experience...

Remember, both sides have communicated about this...Powell apologized, and looks to be intent on trying to save his job...Sincerity being needed to try and accomplish this obviously...Moats has accepted the apology (publicly), and stated it appeared to him to be sincere...

What is damning about this is the media is driving the bus now, and is pushing buttons that I do not believe need to be pushed...With the intent to get Powell fired, which may happen without their help...

Is Officer Powell salvagable???

[tfrazier]

...the media is driving the bus now, and is pushing buttons that I do not believe need to be pushed...With the intent to get Powell fired, which may happen without their help...

Is Officer Powell salvagable???

I think the answer is "No". Had this case been handled internally and not become a media circus, Powell might have gotten away with a psych review, upaid suspension and remedial training, or he might have been fired.

But with the public scrutiny and the whole thing being tried in the media, and various cut and un-cut versions of the video playing on Youtube, this 25 year old officer has no chance of keeping his current job for much longer, and he'll have a difficult time finding a job with any other agency.

If he does manage to find one, it won't be with a department that pays anything near the average (which is lousy pay to start with, considering the job).

Perhaps he deserves it, it's just a shame that so much objectivity in determining whether he deserves it or not has been lost.

If I we're Powell I'd be hunting for work in another state in a very different career field right now.

[frazzled]

If I we're Powell I'd be hunting for work in another state in a very different career field right now.

Thats the thing. He NEEDS to be looking in a very different career. If he was in the private ector he would have been fired faster than you can shake a stick for that behavior. He quite suimply has extremely poor judgement.

[flintknapper]

With the scrutiny Officer Powell has received from the media and the public, he should be concerned about his future in Law Enforcement...

The Dallas reporter that interviewed him recently rally hammered him...Those folks investigated him al the way back to his academy days...

A loose quote from a posting he made 18 days before he graduated says a lot...He was basically looking forward to finishing up his training, and getting out on the street to shoot people...

Which goes to show what you post on an internet accessable chat forums can and will find you again some day...And we have had a tremendous amount of discussion about that issue...

Officer Powell should get his day to explain further his conduct before, during and after this incident...That is the way it should be...And I would be appalled if he didn't before any punative action be taken on his ability to enforce the law in this state...

Law Enforcement is a tight community, and you guys and gals know I have my opinions about a lot of things, but you know I support the community 150%...

I bet I don't get an answer (publicly) to an ultimate gut-check question here:

"Would you work a shift with this guy, knowing what you know now, or may know before something like this could happen???"

Hindsight is 20/20, but this actually a pretty good lesson to be learned by anyone, regardless of experience...

Remember, both sides have communicated about this...Powell apologized, and looks to be intent on trying to save his job...Sincerity being needed to try and accomplish this obviously...Moats has accepted the apology (publicly), and stated it appeared to him to be sincere...
What is damning about this is the media is driving the bus now, and is pushing buttons that I do not believe need to be pushed...With the intent to get Powell fired, which may happen without their help...

Is Officer Powell salvagable???

Unless something has changed....Powell apologized (publicly) but not directly/privately to the Moats,(meaningless IMO).

Powell's actions, words and tone of voice pretty much tell the story. He gets no sympathy from me.

[DEADEYE1964]

I think he deserves to have the crap beat out of him and with his attitude, he will get it. His job is to serve and protect, not abuse his power with his badge. Like I said in another post, several more reports are coming out about this guy, it was not an isolated incident. There will be more reports, do you think he just started being a jerk that day ?

I agree with the majority of posters that the Officer did not handle this well. However, I have seen at least two posts with the highlighted statement above which I think is totally inappropriate.

Agreed. He needs to be disciplined as any employee. Anyone who thinks he needs to be assualted is thinking from emotion, and needs to take a breath.

Emotion, you are probably correct, this kind of behavior gets me going. We will revisit this when more reports come out and we find out that he has abused people physically and emotionally. I am pretty sure if they keep looking, they will find several more abuse cases against this power munger. If I was a defense attorney, I would have every case pulled that this idiot was involved in and have every prosecution overturned.

Okay, I have taken a breath and still stand by my comments, this is not a cop that had a bad day, this is a guy that abuses the badge and does not care. Like I said early on, he will pull over the wrong guy one day and his attitude will get him in trouble.

Where in the wide-world did that one come from? I too do not like the way that things were handled. Videos are great, but can be manipulated simply by deleting portions.
We first see a video where the Officer is apparently treating the folks outside the hospital in a less than stellar manner. Much later, some of us find out that not only did this guy break numerous traffic laws (for a reason, valid or not) but that he continued to do so after the Officer lit up his lights/sirens. We all know how we feel when we get cut-off on the road, as an Officer would you be any less annoyed when your lights/sirens are ignored?

I think overall the Officer failed to handle this correctly. But the notion that he needs to be beaten silly, or that by default he must abuse people physically is spurious reasoning at best.

We will revisit this once all of the reports have come in and the investigation is over and we will see if it is spurious reasoning. You do not wake up one day and act like he did, this is showing to be a pattern. You think he is above physical abuse when it is obvious that he has power issues. I too dislike the media but if it was not for the Plano cop, which I respect, DPD would have swept this so far under the rug, you would have never heard about it. The last I heard there was 3 different people who have now come out against this guy and I am sure there will be more once they do not fear him anymore.

[KD5NRH]

But with the public scrutiny and the whole thing being tried in the media, and various cut and un-cut versions of the video playing on Youtube, this 25 year old officer has no chance of keeping his current job for much longer, and he'll have a difficult time finding a job with any other agency.

Y'know, sensible people assumed - and continue to assume - the same about Terrell Bolton, but he just keeps making headlines for one scam after another, and apparently had little trouble getting the same job in Georgia.