The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I don't know any of the details, but this just seems fully avoidable.  I'm sure Hill was doing the "don't you know who am I?" thing and the cop was like "I don't care if you gotta get to a game, step out of the car", but there's a failure when an NFL superstar is handcuffed and lying on his belly of the team parking lot with 4 cops around.

I'm sure Hill is responsible for his part, but the officer, too -- if you're thinking that this guy is so much of a threat that you need all this extra force, you're doing it wrong.

The question is, why was he told to step out of the car for a speeding ticket?   I've gotten pulled over for speeding quite a few times and not once have I been told to step out of the car.   

The fucked up thing is Campbell showed up trying to diffuse the situation and he got cuffed too.   I'm glad their IAB is looking into this.

Again, I don't know the details.  Disrespect isn't a crime, though, even if Tyreek was being mouthy.

I am 100% behind officers protecting their own safety.  I just don't think that a reasonable case can be made that you need to physically detain a suspect on the ground in cuffs on their belly with 4 cops, while fans and teammates are there confirming his identity, for a traffic violation, no less.  Cops need to diffuse when they can, not escalate.  It doesn't mean that Hill is above the law, but I have trouble that the cop wasn't doing it for his (or her) own vanity.

I will reserve final judgment until I see the body cam footage or the police contest the release of said footage. 

But the fact that an officer has been so quickly placed on administrative duties suggests when the chief reviewed the tape he concluded the police conduct was indefensible.

I keep saying that I don't have all the details (and I don't), but I just find it hard to justify why you'd have someone on the ground, in cuffs, on their belly, unless it was for your own safety.  And what justification did he have that his safety was at risk from Tyreek Hill in the Dolphins game parking lot.  And then to cuff a 2nd player who arrived.  It's just too much.

Added to this, if the justification for threat of harm was so great (like there were threats or something), I find it weird that he'd be immediately released.

Hard to say too much about this from only the two short phone vids (which is all I've seen). Neither shows what happened initially and I think it's reasonable to wait until more information is available until forming an opinion on this. The police body cam footage should provide a much better view.

Police officers need to be better trained in de-escalation. While not absolving anyone, we get the police force we decide through policies.

From what I saw the cops were already pretty worked up about something before they ever approached the vehicle. Not sure exactly what happened maybe it was just how fast Tyreek was going and maybe he initially attempted to run from the cops, but they had an extremely short leash with him. Seems like they didn't appreciate that Tyreek was apparently trying to call Drew Rosenhouse when they pulled him out of the car. But in all honesty it wasn't the arresting officer that was the most aggressive it was the guy that pulled Tyreek out of the car and placed him on the ground and then later when he was on the sidewalk in handcuffs and forced him to the ground again. Don't know what that guy was pissed off about but was clearly making things worse and not better. I'm assuming he was the one that was disciplined as he was clearly overly aggressive. Tyreek didn't do anything aggressive it didn't appear he was just not cooperating but that's no reason to be handled how he was. I've watched a ton of people getting arrested on you tube and in almost every case the cops give the offenders a way longer leash than Tyreek was given.

I saw the footage.  Tyreek is a dummy.  Cops are complete aggressive assholes over a seatbelt violation.  No wonder the police have a bad rep.  These dudes are power tripping hard and escalating at every turn.  Disgraceful.

The cops do like three or four things that ramp things up.  Grabbing tyreek from the back when he’s already cuffed while he’s yelling that he just had knee surgery is a bad look.  Arresting the 2nd guy for not moving his car fast enough is laughable.  We deserve better than this from our public servants.

Hill was being a bit of an ass and I have no problem with the officer ordering him to get out. Why the heck did Hill roll up his window again, despite the officer repeatedly telling him to keep it down? That was just dumb of Hill.

Not sure why the officer then snapped and didn't give Hill more than half a second to get out before grabbing him and dragging him out. Basically, everything that happened after the officer (reasonably, IMHO) ordered Hill to get out was unnecessary and (again, IMHO) a result of poor judgement by the officer. Hill was not given anything remotely resembling a chance to get out of the car. Unless fearful of personal safety (or that of others), giving Hill the opportunity to comply seems like a must. (Yeah, also seemed a bit sloppy of the officer to first warn Hill that he would be have to get out unless he kept the window down and then deciding mid-sentence "a f'it, get out now", but that's a minor quibble - ordering him out was fine, IMHO).

Overall, it just seems stupid. Sure, Hill should stop bitching about his window and keep it down when asked - absolutely, no question, but it's just stupid of the officers to escalate the hell out of everything from there. To me, that's a training issue.

I saw the video, 100% on the cops. They're the ones in the enforcement position. This was a maybe speeding ticket that turned into a whole thing because asshold cop #1 couldn't treat a guy with basic decency. Whatever chip was on his shoulder can't be on it when you are carrying a gun. This is how people are killed.

This isn't a training issue, this is a firing issue.

The cops need remedial training de-escalation.  However, the cops have every right during a lawful traffic stop to demand certain things among those that you keep your windows down (particularly if they are tinted) and that you  keep your hands visible/on the steering wheel.

We live in a country where because of insane lack of gun control cops must assume you are armed.  

Refusal to keep your window rolled down and/or not keeping your hands viable fully justifies LEO using whatever force is necessary to place one in handcuffs until they can pat you down  

The cops could have done better, but Hill's conduct justified the handcuffs. 

If the suspect is uncooperative about keeping hands visible, it justifies handcuffs, but doesn't justify continued detention once it is established the suspect is not armed. 

I don't know about Florida but near me the window tint on the front windows is way too dark to be legal.   

I am going to disagree with you on a lot of this.  The cop had no realistic reason to ask Tyreek to get out of the car.  Sure, Hill was being an asshole, but at the time, the cop already had his license.  Tyreek was trying to roll the window back up while the cop went back to his car.  There's really no reason the cop would care about that, in that specific circumstance, unless it was just a display of power.  AND...  The cop cuts himself off and says "If you roll that window back up, I'm gonna make you get out the car.  In fact, just get out; I'm not playing that game."  The cop made that choice to escalate.  The cops need to make the suspect do what they need for their own safety, but this isn't a game of Simon Says.  You don't need to just boss people around to satisfy your ego.

The cops were angry and they let it affect their judgment and actions.  They were both physically and verbally too aggressive.

Also, why do cops just scream the same command in someone's face over and over like they're in a fight in high school?  "LOWER THE WINDOW!  LOWER THE WINDOW!  LOWER THE WINDOW!"  Just slow shit down and calmly get what you want.

I guarantee you that these cops are ego-tripping assholes.

I gave you one. 

When you get pulled over 99% of the time you are going to be told to keep you window down and hands on the steering wheel.  If you take your hands off the wheel, unbuckle your seat belt, reach for something, roll up you windows....the cop is going to get nervous that you are reaching for a weapon, this might result only in the cop getting upset at you, but it could result in a whole lot worse.  Hill refused to act in a manner that allowed to cops to see he wasn't reaching for a gun, handcuffs was one of the better possible outcomes. 

The cops do not have license to do whatever they want because they "fear for their safety."

It is necessary to ask you to roll the window down (at least partially) to communicate.  Once he handed over his information, it was appropriate to ask Hill to keep the window cracked for communication.  Asking him to keep the window fully rolled down is just the cop trying to flex power and establish dominance, and "I was concerned about my safety" as the evergreen excuse is no more valid than "I thought he was reaching for a weapon" as justification for every instance of police brutality.

If the windows weren't tinted that would be a valid agreement.  But a cop demanding that they are able to see the suspect is a reasonable safety demand.     

If tinted front windows were deemed to be a safety hazard in Florida, they would be illegal, as they are in, say, California.

Again, the idea that the police can just do whatever they please for "safety reasons" is not a valid justification.  Even in this instance of clear and egregious abuse of power by the police, we still have people all over the internet saying "but what about police safety?"  Even when it is a famous, wealthy athlete, in a million dollar car, in broad daylight in front of a packed stadium, the police are always allowed to treat you like a suspected member of a Mexican drug cartel if they pull you over for so much as a busted taillight.

This kind of police overreach should be curtailed, not rationalized.  Your rights do not evaporate when a paranoid cop pulls you over for a speeding ticket.

I don't think it is a reasonable fear that Tyreek Hill is going to reach for a gun in that situation.

100 percent truth

Telling someone to keep their window down and their hand on the wheel is a very reasonable command.  Refusal is a valid reason for concern.  Neutralizing that concern through handcuffs is reasonable.  Neutralizing the threat by shooting the suspect as was done with Philando Castile is unreasonable. 

Cops have a right to go home at night, Tyreek Hill has a right to go home at night.  This happened. 

I don't think you're allowing for enough context.

Tyreek Hill in the stadium parking lot surrounded by people in broad daylight is not "someone".  There is obviously no valid concern for him to have his window rolled all the way up, while he went back to run the license.

And anyway, HE DID IT!  And the cop pulled him out of the car anyway.

Hill committed the most serious offense possible in these United States: disrespecting a police officer.  Everything else is window dressing.

No, he committed the offense of giving the cop a reason to be justifiably concerned for his own safety. 

GTFOH

Did hills conduct justify getting taken down to the ground when he was standing talking to other cops in handcuffs? Did Calais Campbell deserve to be detained because he was observing from a safe distance and was on the phone?

Ego trips, these cops need to get fired. They do not have the temperament to have a badge and a gun.

You are reinforcing the police's false trope that any time cops feel the tiniest bit of potential danger, that automatically justifies wild overreactions in response.

The moment Hill rolled down the window, all pretense of "threat to safety" was ended.  Doesn't matter; he disrespected a police officer so it was necessary to throw him to the ground and cuff him.

There is zero justification for how the police acted after Hill complied and rolled his window down.  And that's when all the abusive police actions happened!  Stop rationalizing their behavior.

I want to understand what you think the context was and how this should have shaped the police's actions. 

Seems like you seem to be implying that because he is a Miami Dolphin's player he is less likely commit and act of violence against police officers.

I would point out that when the police ran his license it did their computer did not provide them with his receiving stats, but their computer almost certainly told them that he has a conviction for domestic assault, an arrest for child abuse and was in their database for an alleged assault at a bar about a year ago.  A cop might reasonably interpret his past history of violence as a red flag that his lack of willingness to keep his hands visible as a red flag that the suspect is a greater risk of committing  violence than the average traffic stop. 

Yeah, Hill is no saint and the man is a bit of a head case to say the least but no he was not going to shoot the cops or attack them that close to stadium in broad daylight lol

This is just authoritarian cops doing what they always do which is intimidation. Cops act like any other gang they just have legal sanctions

Once again: the moment he rolled down his window, there was no more pretense of a threat to safety.  Everything the cops did after that moment was to prove a point: if you disrespect us, we will brutalize you.

Even if you feel that the cops were justified in pulling him out of the vehicle and cuffing him, what's your justification for then forcing him to the ground after he was cuffed and just standing on the sidewalk? He wasn't a threat to anyone then. This is a traffic stop, not arresting a suspected murderer. Anyway you look at it, the cops went overboard even with giving them the benefit of the doubt.