I keep looking at that guy and wondering how he got into football. He looks like he would have been a prime candidate to get stuffed into lockers.
Cops come across as dicks a lot of the time. But they have to deal with dicks a lot of the time. Let’s all try not to be dicks a lot of the time and see what happens.
I was with the officers up until the cuffs. Afterwards control your emotions and bring the temperature down. Tyreek could have and should’ve handled that differently and better. The officers once he was cuffed could have and should have handled that differently and better.
He had the window open part way well before the out of control cop opened the door and yanked him out. Part way is plenty for communication and is all that the law requires.
I saw the video from the body camera of the cop who pulled him over that starts when the cop first sees him going by and makes a U turn to pull him over. He was no doubt going above the speed limit but nowhere near what I would consider a high rate of speed - maybe 50-60; that car looks like it's flying when it's parked. He was not even charged with speeding but with careless driving. There is no requirement to turn a vehicle off if pulled over and certainly no law that requires a seat belt in a car that's not moving we don't know if he ever had it on or had just taken it off when he was stopped. I don't understand how they were protecting him from himself by pinning him facedown to the pavement with a knee or two in his back and then again by the curb. There was no need to wait for anyone - the first cop should have just written the tickets he intended to do when he had the license and began to walk back to his bike but instead, he got annoyed that Hill closed the window to wait and then let the guy with the black sleeves takeover. How was this situation any different from any other traffic stop as far as the possibility the driver would just drive off? Much less chance of that happening with the driver identified already.
If it was reckless driving, there is a chance that it happened before that video, and that cop was called to pull him over until the one that saw him catches up. I think you know as well as I do that with everything going on these days, it is best to comply, especially if you know you were in the wrong… and sort it out after everything calms down. Even if by law you don’t necessarily have to. Life happens a lot faster than the replay, and the human experience isn’t computer generated.
You can't compare it to any other traffic stop. He was driving a vehicle that is certainly different than your average traffic stop, and on the phone with his business agent the whole time, also not the norm. It was 100% a unique situation
The video had audio with no indication he had been alerted; Hill simply passed at what the cop estimated waa excessive speed and started his bike, made a uturn and stopped him very quickly. There's no sense in adding hypotheticals to the situation. It was officially cited as "Careless Driving." Hill immediately pulled over and then moved up another hundred yards or so at the direction of the cop - he complied with everything the cop instructed him to do. That's what you do - what the law requires. I'm not as quick as you are to just give away my rights and do whatever an authority figure orders me to, legal or not. We'll see if the actions of the cops were legal as time goes by.
I don’t think the majority people out driving see themselves as self appointed scholars of their rights, so I don’t think it’s wise for someone to test their level of knowledge at a tense traffic stop. As I said, life moves faster than the replay. But that’s just my opinion, and at the moment we are all free to do what ever we feel is best for our situation . Maybe one day when that Orwellian society comes to fruition, we will all do everything perfectly by the book. But right now, human error is still part of the equation, so considering that can be of great value .
If we fail to exercise our rights we are in danger of losing them. Certainly officer Torres would not have been placed on administrative duty so quickly if there was no question about his conduct. If the people charged with acting in compliance with the Constitution, federal, state and local law and even the rules and regulations of their own employment cannot, how can the populace be expected to? Those being paid to uphold the laws should be the ones to be scholars of that subject.
