This is beyond reproach... To serve and protect my ass, this officer should be fired

[Kev]

Nah...Sorry Bilbo but this guy made the situation about himself and his authority,looked to assert himself with provocation 'do we have a problem'.....when it was clear,YES officer the problem is that my mother is dying while I answer your questions.... he had little control from the get go as the women ran for the door....and he was not about to let it happen twice.

Some times in a position of authority,you have to adapt and improvise as situations unfold minute to minute.He seemed to lack the ability to think/decide past the by the book strict rulebook mentality 101.The family violated a traffic signal and he detained the occupants and vehicle without incident.He had everything in front of him,license plate,vin # and drivers license,registration to fulfill his paperwork obligations while still addressing the unique situation.He had already called for backup and I personally can see a case in him 'escorting' the distraught family member to verify his information with hospital staff.

Down here,they do not even stop you at times should you run a red light.They have traffic cameras that automatically snap a pic of your plate when you run a red.They look up your info at the presinct....run you for violations.....and actually send a ticket in the mail.No interaction with officers what so ever.

Laws need to be up held.No doubt.But common sense and logic are essential,especially in times like that.

I agree the officer sounded like a complete knob jockey and shouldn't have given a ticket but eveything else he pretty much had to do.

In this country if you jump a light in front of a cop car they will flash you and pull you over. They will definitely follow you and want words if you just carry on driving and don't stop for them.

Then they would need to see ID and insurance from you to back up your story. That's what I'm saying.

He HAD to stop them and talk to them and he HAD to ask for their details else he wouldn't have been doing his job.

The issue is more about his tone imo than the actual detaining.

[VictorCharlie]

I understand having a hard thankless job, but I've had so many bad experiences with cops I rarely give them the benefit of the doubt. Not saying thats right its just me. As a teenager growing up I had a lot of interaction with law enforcement. My hometown is a college town with a big upper middle class and not much crime. Consequently cops have little to do but harass high school and college kids. I got so many BS tickets and harassment it was absurd. That being said the county deputies who work for an elected official were always pretty reasonable. I think you'd see a change in the attitudes of police forces if their respective Chiefs were elected officials and not appointed.

[Spicoli]

Nah...Sorry Bilbo but this guy made the situation about himself and his authority,looked to assert himself with provocation 'do we have a problem'.....when it was clear,YES officer the problem is that my mother is dying while I answer your questions.... he had little control from the get go as the women ran for the door....and he was not about to let it happen twice.

Some times in a position of authority,you have to adapt and improvise as situations unfold minute to minute.He seemed to lack the ability to think/decide past the by the book strict rulebook mentality 101.The family violated a traffic signal and he detained the occupants and vehicle without incident.He had everything in front of him,license plate,vin # and drivers license,registration to fulfill his paperwork obligations while still addressing the unique situation.He had already called for backup and I personally can see a case in him 'escorting' the distraught family member to verify his information with hospital staff.

Down here,they do not even stop you at times should you run a red light.They have traffic cameras that automatically snap a pic of your plate when you run a red.They look up your info at the presinct....run you for violations.....and actually send a ticket in the mail.No interaction with officers what so ever.

Laws need to be up held.No doubt.But common sense and logic are essential,especially in times like that.

I agree the officer sounded like a complete knob jockey and shouldn't have given a ticket but eveything else he pretty much had to do.

In this country if you jump a light in front of a cop car they will flash you and pull you over. They will definitely follow you and want words if you just carry on driving and don't stop for them.

Then they would need to see ID and insurance from you to back up your story. That's what I'm saying.

He HAD to stop them and talk to them and he HAD to ask for their details else he wouldn't have been doing his job.

The issue is more about his tone imo than the actual detaining.

I cannot really fault him for the ticket or the stoppage,you are correct.Its his conduct after he is aware of the situation...and the man handing his information,identity over.He had everything he needed but was reacting to the sons understandable elevated state.Backup on the way,car secured and a very unique situation.Accompany the son inside or tell him to go in while officer does the paperwork,write the ticket.But to sit there and draw it out like it was his first day of training?Definatly called for tact.

[Kev]

Nah...Sorry Bilbo but this guy made the situation about himself and his authority,looked to assert himself with provocation 'do we have a problem'.....when it was clear,YES officer the problem is that my mother is dying while I answer your questions.... he had little control from the get go as the women ran for the door....and he was not about to let it happen twice.

Some times in a position of authority,you have to adapt and improvise as situations unfold minute to minute.He seemed to lack the ability to think/decide past the by the book strict rulebook mentality 101.The family violated a traffic signal and he detained the occupants and vehicle without incident.He had everything in front of him,license plate,vin # and drivers license,registration to fulfill his paperwork obligations while still addressing the unique situation.He had already called for backup and I personally can see a case in him 'escorting' the distraught family member to verify his information with hospital staff.

Down here,they do not even stop you at times should you run a red light.They have traffic cameras that automatically snap a pic of your plate when you run a red.They look up your info at the presinct....run you for violations.....and actually send a ticket in the mail.No interaction with officers what so ever.

Laws need to be up held.No doubt.But common sense and logic are essential,especially in times like that.

I agree the officer sounded like a complete knob jockey and shouldn't have given a ticket but eveything else he pretty much had to do.

In this country if you jump a light in front of a cop car they will flash you and pull you over. They will definitely follow you and want words if you just carry on driving and don't stop for them.

Then they would need to see ID and insurance from you to back up your story. That's what I'm saying.

He HAD to stop them and talk to them and he HAD to ask for their details else he wouldn't have been doing his job.

The issue is more about his tone imo than the actual detaining.

I cannot really fault him for the ticket or the stoppage,you are correct.Its his conduct after he is aware of the situation...and the man handing his information,identity over.He had everything he needed but was reacting to the sons understandable elevated state.Backup on the way,car secured and a very unique situation.Accompany the son inside or tell him to go in while officer does the paperwork,write the ticket.But to sit there and draw it out like it was his first day of training?Definatly called for tact.

Yeah I agree completely with you then. He definitely sounded like a complete jackass.

I thought everyone was jumping on him for stopping the driver and making him produce his insurance and ID, I mean that's just his job he'd be derelict in his duty if he didn't do that.

If I can be so bold as to defend the cop a little bit though I imagine they hear all manner of excuses for people jumping lights, speeding, not stopping when being flashed etc and I'm sure 'My mum is dying' is not the first time its been said and that it hasn't always been the case before.

I mean most people on here and in America it seems have now already decided this cop is an asshole and a disgrace after seeing just under 2 mins of his life with no prior knowledge.

If that cop stops 50 people a day and 30 of them tell him bullshit lies and made up excuses you can understand that maybe when someone tell hims the truth he doesn't automatically know.

I mean consider this scenario. You have just stolen a car and then a cop sees you jump some lights. You know if he stops and ID's you he's going to find out you arn't the owner of the car and have no insurance and stuff to produce and your not crazy enough to try a 120 mph getaway through the streets. What else could you do to maybe get away with it?

Well if there's a hospital nearby you could dash for there and park right by the emergency ward and then when the cop gets out scream at him ' My mum is dying its an emergency she has only minutes to live!'

He might just say 'ok no worries you get in there quick son God bless you and your family' and the car thieves get clean away and the cop gets reprimanded for failing to do his duty.

So it is a fine line. Obviously it looks outrageous on the outside because we have the benefit of full knowledge, the cop didn't.

And now people are saying this cop should be fired again based on only one pretty biased news clip. If you knew the whole situation he might be a great cop. He may have 10 years service and be known as one of the best cops on the beat. He may even have been a hero in other circumstances. I'm not saying he was of course just pointing out that we simply don't know and are basing our opinion on just one tiny 2 min clip of footage of him.

In a way the media and the public are guilty of the same stereotyping jumping to a conclusion that the cop is.

It's kind of inconsistent to say the cop should have properly assessed the situation and dealth with it using his own initiative and then leap to the conclusion that he should be fired and reviled, it's the same sterotyping that we are accusing the cop of who may well have thought this guy was spinning him a line like hundreds have before him.

[sonny78]

I agree with most of what Bilbo has said I don't see what else this copper could have done just cause you scream "My Moms dying" doesn't get you a free pass can you imagine the shit police gets told everyday

I have had a few run ins with the police and spent a few nights in their company some are cocks some are good blokes but in all cases if I would had handled the situation better I probably would have go away sooner

I cant believe the guy got his ticket taken away he still ran a red light

looks like the police are wanting to avoid a race issue and are hanging there man out to dry as I cant see what he did wrong

[JazMerkin]

I think the simple fact that the chief of police thinks his behaviour was completely inappropriate says it all. Yes he could stop him, but just give them the ticket & let it go when you can see people are that distressed. Pulling his gun was completely unneccesary. His initial pull-over, fine that's understandable, but the rest of it is bullshit. Also if the people involved feel it may be a race issue, then it may very well be, its very easy to say no its not sitting at a computer when you weren't there, its much easier to tell when you are actually face to face and dealing with them. I'm not saying it is, because I too am sat at a computer, but I think to dismiss it entirely is completely naive. It's police officers like that who fuck it up for the ones who are actually decent human beings.

[El Kabong]

I heard about this and all I can say is, I'm white and I've never had a cop do any favors for me.

[Kev]

I think the simple fact that the chief of police thinks his behaviour was completely inappropriate says it all. Yes he could stop him, but just give them the ticket & let it go when you can see people are that distressed. Pulling his gun was completely unneccesary. His initial pull-over, fine that's understandable, but the rest of it is bullshit. Also if the people involved feel it may be a race issue, then it may very well be, its very easy to say no its not sitting at a computer when you weren't there, its much easier to tell when you are actually face to face and dealing with them. I'm not saying it is, because I too am sat at a computer, but I think to dismiss it entirely is completely naive. It's police officers like that who fuck it up for the ones who are actually decent human beings.

I do agree a lot with what Sonny says about race being an issue for the police here. I imagine with the victim being black no way they would want to get into a racial dispute so easier to just condemn the cop.

I do find the whole thing extrememly biased in terms of reporting though.

I mean there were two offences here, firstly the guy jumped a red light in front of a cop and secondly he didn't stop for the police car when they tried to pull him over.

One thing I've learned from watching police camera action is that when somebody jumps a light and then doesn't pull over for the police there is often a very high percentage chance that the driver is up to no good, either drunk, stolen car, smuggling drugs, stolen goods etc.

Everybody jumping on the cop is looking at it with the benefit of hindsight, i.e this was a genuine case of a poor family who had a mother dying and were racing to get to the hospital. However even then its still no excuse to jump a red light I mean that's just dangerous, if everyone decided they could jump a red light when the situation was urgent enough then we'd have chaos on the roads and its the policeman's job to uphold the law on the roads if he's on traffic duty.

And as I said in the post above anyone can scream 'My mother is dying' and attempt to run into a hospital to avoid being investigated by the police or having to hand over details.

I'm sure this cop, and countless other cops hear these excuses all the time and most of the time they are just blaggers trying anything to get out of a ticket.

I think it was a very unfortunate situation but that the cop is just as big a victim in this as he was just out doing his job and is now part of some huge national scandal and has had his name and reputation dragged through the mud.

What's even more ironic is that you'd get the impression from the media reports that this whole family was detained for hours or something whilst the poor mother in law died alone with nobody with her.

When in fact all the family apart from the driver went straight into the hospital to be with the mother and the driver himself was detained for 1 min 54 seconds!

I really don't see the big deal, to me the cop is actually more of a victim here being made a pariah for just following his job description.

Spicoli you say he should have put his own judgment above beurocracry and rules but at the end of the day all of our servicemen HAVE to follow the rules to the letter. I don't want my police service, fire department, armed forces etc choosing when and when not to follow their job description, that just opens the way to chaos and more problems down the road.

In the interests of public safety I want the police to properly investigate every possible case of foul play.

The guy jumped the lights and refused to stop for a police car. He HAS to stopped and investigated and its aboslutely right he should have to produce his documents. Regarding the ticket the police officer is just following the law in issuing it, its up to others higher than him to waive it imo.

I can't fault the officer for anything other than his tone, which I agree was nasty and unfeeling. However do you really think the cop knew this woman was actually dying in that exact moment? As Sonny said anybody could cry that and many probably do, if the police response was to automatically just let them off and tell them to get in there and see their loved one then the police would just be a laughing stock with people claiming all kinds of excuses to stop the police investigating them.

The more I think about the more I think the real victim is the cop and his family. He was just unfortunate to be on duty in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Hunter]

The cop should be fired. If he thought they were dangerous criminals why did he let the three others run into the hospital. He didnt call for backup? He knew Ryan was telling the truth and chose to be an ass.

He should have took his license and walked with him into the hospital and once he verified with a nurse let him go.

[Tilt A Whirl]

Think of how many real criminals got away because Johnny Law was detaining an NFL Running Back while his mother in law was dying for running a red light.