Subscribe to Moronmeter!Officer Robert Powell: An Apology, Some Support, and a Blast from the Past
An Apology
The Dallas Morning News reported that on Friday, Dallas Police Officer Robert Powell issued an apology to Ryan Moats and his family (and just about everyone else, for that matter).
In a statement released through his attorney, Bob Gorsky, Powell said, “I wish to publicly and sincerely apologize to the Moats family, my colleagues in the Dallas Police Department, and to all those who have been rightfully angered by my actions.”
Powell also said, “After stopping Mr. Moats’ vehicle, I showed poor judgment and insensitivity to Mr. Moats and his family by my words and actions.”
Some Support
Although Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle had previously characterized Powell’s treatment of Moats as “inappropriate” and “embarrassing”, some officers such as Detective Ron Pinkston, secretary-treasurer of the Dallas Police Association, and Lt. Vernon Hale, commander of the Dallas police academy, offered support for Powell.
Pinkston said, “He was trying to do his job out there.” Pinkston also said he didn’t think Powell should be fired and he wasn’t even sure if Powell should be disciplined.
Lt. Hale seemed to think it was just a matter of training, saying, “I don’t think it’s a situation that anybody’s ever anticipated or it wouldn’t be national news.”
I understand where Pinkston is coming from. I’m sure that being a police officer is hard work and having people second guess your actions doesn’t make it any easier.
That said, “trying to do his job out there” isn’t a defense for bad judgement – which is really what a police officer’s job is all about. Officer Powell might be a great guy, I don’t know, but it seems he has a problem with using good judgment and if he can’t do that, does he really need to be riding around with a badge and a gun?
Maybe Officer Powell should be reassigned to a position that doesn’t require him to be placed in such front-line situations again. Something like the supply office – it’s necessary, but doesn’t really tend to put the officer in any kind of ‘your poor judgement could end up getting someone killed’ scenarios. Also a possibility, the guy in charge of arrested individual’s belongings – not a lot of life-or-death choices involved in putting a broken wrist watch, a wallet with 3 one dollar bills, and $.76 in change in a manila envelope.
And to Lt. Hale, if you guys aren’t teaching officer trainees how to deal with potential emergency situations, maybe you should put a paragraph or two in your training. Something like this perhaps?
Things NOT to say to people who have been rushing to the emergency room when they get out of their car.
- Get in there. Let me see your hands. Get in there. Put your hands on the car.
- I can screw you over.
A Blast from the Past
Just in case Officer Powell’s dust up with Ryan Moats and the revelation that Officer Powell might have been misleading in a January post chase report (see Officer Robert Powell Won’t Be Dallas’ 2009 Police Officer of the Year) weren’t enough of a headache for the Dallas Police Department, a complaint has now arisen over his July treatment of Maritza Thomas – the wife of former Dallas Cowboys linebacker, Zach Thomas – back on July 27th, 2008.
Apparently, Mrs. Thomas was detained, in total, for around 5 hours – all stemming from a traffic stop for an illegal U-turn. The other charges against her – “failure to show proof of insurance, running a red light, having an improper address on a driver’s license and not having a registration sticker on the windshield” – were all subsequently dropped. According to the Dallas Morning News, “She accepted deferred adjudication for the illegal U-turn charge, and her record will be cleared next month.”
There doesn’t appear to be a dashboard camera taping of this traffic stop and I can’t find any details about Mrs. Thomas’ demeanor during the incident, but hopefully something will be released to help clear the matter up.
I have to wonder, though, if the Dallas Police Department has thought of doing a review of all of Officer Powell’s arrests. How many other times have his traffic stops resulted in arrests? If he has a higher than average amount of arrests stemming from traffic stops, maybe the problem isn’t with the people he is stopping – maybe Officer Powell shouldn’t be out stopping people for traffic violations in the first place.
Again, I fully support the police. They have a tough job to do and I’m glad they are willing to do it. I don’t, however, think that everyone is cut out for the job, especially the front-line jobs. Those who aren’t cut out for the job should be moved to positions that they can perform well in, whether those positions are in the police force or not.
What do you think should happen with Officer Robert Powell?
- Fire him - he doesn't need to be on the police force. (80%, 48 Votes)
- Bench him - he doesn't need to be interacting with the public. (15%, 9 Votes)
- Nothing - he's just doing his job. (5%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 60
Loading ...Link Roundup:
Officer Robert Powell Won’t Be Dallas’ 2009 Police Officer of the Year | Moronmeter.com.
Zach Thomas: Same Dallas officer mistreated my wife | Dallas Morning News.
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It seems evident to me that Officer Robert Powell has a pattern of detaining motorists for DWB (Driving While Black) and utilizing poor judgement. Kudos to the immediate admonishment of his actions by Chief of Police Kunkle. The work of police officers is very difficult. Most, do an exceptional job. Often, it is the code that so many officers adhere to and the blue line they refuse to cross when it is time to challenge poor judgement and behavior of their peers. It is this nuance that positions the relationship between police and citizens as adversarial. This negative relationship is magnified by incidents like these and similar cases of more extreme violence like the one that took place earlier this year when the handcuffed man was killed by police in Oakland, CA. Powell should be terminated.