Officer Robert Powell

As a law enforcement officer, I am very disappointed in Officer Powell's actions concerning the traffic stop of Ryan Moats. In my opinion, Officer Powell should be fired and I hope that Ryan Moats files a lawsuit against the Dallas Police Department.

Officer Powell displayed very poor judgement and absolutely no compassion for a fellow human being. I am not sure that race played a factor into this situation but with Officer Powell's actions, I think that would be a very logical question to ask. If one of our officers did this, he would be suspended without pay pending outcome of internal investigation and then most likely fired!

It is only a matter of time before Officer Powell's poor judgement ends an innocent life. He should be removed from the Dallas Police Department force and stripped of his police certification. He is a danger to the citizens of the great State of Texas. He is power hungry and shows he obviously enjoys having the authority to ruin someone's night if they challenge him in any way. His threats crossed the line and he should be ashamed of himself. The other officers of the Dallas Police Department should be ashamed of him, and the citizens of the community he serves should be ashamed of him.

Shame on you Officer Robert Powel for exercising extremely poor judgement and for robbing Ryasn Moats of the oppotunity to say his final goodbye to a family member. May this situation never happen to you or one of your family members but you know what the say.....Karma is a B*tch!

I find it a shame that Officer Powell is taking such heat. 13 minutes is not unusual for receiving a ticket. I am a law enforcement officer in Florida. I doubt if it is much different in Texas where we hear excuses ALL THE TIME. I did not see the video, however I know that when someone does not stop for me, two people get out of a car and are emotional, and in this case for very good reason, I do not know what is going on. I am going to take all measures to ensure I GO HOME at night.

Your chief should be ashamed of himself for lambasting the officer as he did. If Powell did nothing and said "Oh I'm sorry, please go ahead on in" and the guy had a gun and shot up the ER, Powell would have been BBQed for failing to take action.

Get real guys, put the blame on the media for inflamatory reporting, put the blame on the VIOLATOR who was speeding and REFUSING TO STOP, put the blame on the passenger who would not listen, blame your chief for the cowardly way out smearing Powell all over the press.

This would have never gotten any media attention if it were not for who the VIOLATOR was. Let a non biased investigation be conducted and, last time I looked, an officer is allowed to act based on the facts KNOWN AT THE TIME, if he did no wrong, clear his name and make a public apology. If department policy was violated, then so be it and act accordingly. Now is not the time to crucify him, let Powell have due process.

I’m sad to hear that you are a police officer at all, and even more because you work in Florida. Police work is all about judgment and common sense. We can’t overreact to every situation we encounter, and then justify it because we are afraid of being challenged. Common sense should have prevailed in this situation and we wouldn’t be having this discussion. You don’t write someone a traffic ticket because they are rushing to the hospital to watch a family member die.

Moreover, I wouldn’t exactly be proud of the fact that it takes you over 13 minutes to write a red light ticket. Police work is very dangerous and we all took that oath despite having this knowledge. We all raised our right hand and promised to protect and serve the community in which we are employed. The day you lose your empathy, sympathy, and compassion for the public in my opinion, is the day you should find something else to do!

I find it a shame that Officer Powell is taking such heat. 13 minutes is not unusual for receiving a ticket. I am a law enforcement officer in Florida. I doubt if it is much different in Texas where we hear excuses ALL THE TIME. I did not see the video, however I know that when someone does not stop for me, two people get out of a car and are emotional, and in this case for very good reason, I do not know what is going on. I am going to take all measures to ensure I GO HOME at night.

Your chief should be ashamed of himself for lambasting the officer as he did. If Powell did nothing and said "Oh I'm sorry, please go ahead on in" and the guy had a gun and shot up the ER, Powell would have been BBQed for failing to take action.

Get real guys, put the blame on the media for inflamatory reporting, put the blame on the VIOLATOR who was speeding and REFUSING TO STOP, put the blame on the passenger who would not listen, blame your chief for the cowardly way out smearing Powell all over the press.

This would have never gotten any media attention if it were not for who the VIOLATOR was. Let a non biased investigation be conducted and, last time I looked, an officer is allowed to act based on the facts KNOWN AT THE TIME, if he did no wrong, clear his name and make a public apology. If department policy was violated, then so be it and act accordingly. Now is not the time to crucify him, let Powell have due process.

I am a Police Officer myself for the State of Florida and I am Absolutely sickened to hear about your COWARDLY, POLITICAL Chief of Police David Kunkle and how he sided with the Rich Football Player and family, by scolding the Active Patrol Officer, who is merely doing his job, by attempting to perform his duties by trying to stop a vehicle who was occupied by people who at that moment, were committing many traffic violations in his presence.

Does this Chief care soo much about his appointed position and apeacing the community, that he is tying the hands of his Officers by telling them, that any one who claims to have an emergency, to let them go, to avoid a complaint. Chief its time to retire, because you have lost touch with reality and you think like a politician.

Has the Chief seen the news lately, how a single man killed 4 Oakland Officers. In this Dallas case the Officer had several people who were fleeing, speeding, disregarding traffic control devices, endangering the public with their wrecklessness, then refusing to comply, by walking away from him, argueing with him and flat out giving him a hard time.

As a Police officer involved in a lot of Traffic Stops, I have noticed that the majority of the public lies to avoid getting a ticket, unfortunately that was not the case here. The only thing that the Officer should have done differently was just to have the driver wait and let the others go, while he wrote this person a few tickets.

Officer Powell, you did nothing wrong, God Bless You...

I am a Police Officer myself for the State of Florida and I am Absolutely sickened to hear about your COWARDLY, POLITICAL Chief of Police David Kunkle and how he sided with the Rich Football Player and family, by scolding the Active Patrol Officer, who is merely doing his job, by attempting to perform his duties by trying to stop a vehicle who was occupied by people who at that moment, were committing many traffic violations in his presence.

Does this Chief care soo much about his appointed position and apeacing the community, that he is tying the hands of his Officers by telling them, that any one who claims to have an emergency, to let them go, to avoid a complaint. Chief its time to retire, because you have lost touch with reality and you think like a politician.

Has the Chief seen the news lately, how a single man killed 4 Oakland Officers. In this Dallas case the Officer had several people who were fleeing, speeding, disregarding traffic control devices, endangering the public with their wrecklessness, then refusing to comply, by walking away from him, argueing with him and flat out giving him a hard time.

As a Police officer involved in a lot of Traffic Stops, I have noticed that the majority of the public lies to avoid getting a ticket, unfortunately that was not the case here. The only thing that the Officer should have done differently was just to have the driver wait and let the others go, while he wrote this person a few tickets.

Officer Powell, you did nothing wrong, God Bless You...

I am a law enforcement officer also and i agree with your post. This is suv refused to stop after lights and sirens. When it does stop the officer is out numbered, and the persons inside refuse to obey the officers commands. We just had four fellow police officers shot the other day. Moates was very un cooperative and got loud with this officer. How could powell not know he was going to be ambushed, or was being set up. I did not hear Powell use profanity or become un professional. You might have not agreed morally with Powell for issuing a ticket, but that is is decision. So if he killed another driver while running the light, we would not charge him because he was going to see a dying relative. Chief you just weakened all of law enforcement today. The public already hates us, but now we have to apoligize for doing our job. Officer Powell i would call the Houstons Texans and the NFL and make a complaint against the player. Number one for breaking the law, and showing he has no reguard for authority

As a citizen of Florida I'm not the least bit surprised to see power tripping FL LEO's in here defending Powells actions. Pay them no mind, the unprofessional crap they pull down here and get away with make officer Powell look like a gentleman. ops:

Having actually watched the video I think think Powells handling of the incident was unprofessional and uncalled for. He failed to exercise reasonable discretion and made threats that he should be reprimanded for.

The excuses being made above for his actions, by someone who admitted hasn't even reviewed the video is a load of crap!

DALLAS — Racing to see his dying mother-in-law at a Plano hospital, an NFL player found himself delayed by a Dallas officer as her life ebbed away. It's a story that has sparked outrage across North Texas and generated interest around the country.

Dallas police Chief David Kunkle faced reporters Thursday afternoon to express his embarrassment over the incident and to publicly apologize to the family. He said the officer involved failed to use common sense. Officer Robert Powell, a three-year veteran, has been placed on leave facing internal charges of misconduct.

It all started in the early morning hours of March 17. With his wife and another woman in the car, Ryan Moats — a running back for the Houston Texans — sped his car toward Baylor Regional Medical Center of Plano. But when the Moats arrived at the emergency room parking lot, they were stopped by Officer Robert Powell, who reportedly drew his service revolver on the concerned family members.

Dashcam video from the Dallas officer's patrol car captured the incident.

"Get in there," Officer Powell yelled out to Tamishia Moats, Ryan's wife, as she exited the car. "Let me see your hands. Get in there. Put your hands on the car."

"Excuse me; my mom is dying," Tamisha Moats replied.

She and the other woman ignored Officer Powell's commands and rushed inside the hospital to her dying mother as Ryan Moats and Officer Powell went back-and-forth over insurance paperwork the NFL player was unable to locate.

MOATS: "I've got seconds before she's gone, man."

POWELL: "Listen: If I can't verify you have insurance..."

MOATS: "My mother-in-law is dying!"

POWELL: "Listen to me."

MOATS: "Right now, you're wasting my time."

POWELL: "If you can't verify you have insurance, I'm going to tow your car. So, you either find it or I am going to tow the car."

As they argued, the officer got irritated.

POWELL: "Shut your mouth. Shut your mouth. You can either settle down and cooperate, or I can just take you to jail for running a red light."


Dallas PD
The tape shows a nurse coming out of the hospital, pleading with Officer Powell to let Moats join his wife and her dying mother inside.. "I certainly hope anybody who saw the videotape immediately understood how serious the misconduct is," Chief Kunkle said Thursday afternoon. "I don't know how you train for these circumstances other than to hire people with good common sense and people skills."

In a telephone interview, Moats said the clash with the officer was totally unexpected. "For him to not even be sympathetic at all, and basically we're dogs or something and we don't matter — it basically shocked me," he said.

No compassion was indicated in the police recording of the incident. "I can screw you over," Officer Powell said. "I would rather not do that. You obviously will dictate everything that happens; and right now, your attitude sucks."

"My understanding is that Officer Powell — even after he saw the videotape — believed he had not acted inappropriately," Chief Kunkle said, a view that was underscored by Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson, who reviewed the tape with Officer Powell on Wednesday.

"His belief was simply that he was doing his job," Chief Simpson said. "It did concern me that it just seemed that the compassion was not there."
The hospital twice sent nurses to try and get the officer to release Moats.

"We're blue-coding her for the third time," a nurse said on the police videotape.

A Plano police officer stopped to make a plea for the officer to let Moats go. "Hey, that's the nurse," the Plano officer said. "She says the mom is dying right now, and she wants to know if I can get him up there."

Finally, after a 20-minute delay, the officer ticketed Moats for running a red light.

By the time Moats made it up to the emergency room, his mother-in-law was dead.
"I went up after she passed and held her hand, but she was already gone," Moats said in a telephone interview.

Dallas police have launched a review of the incident.

“When it came to our attention, we immediately called for an internal investigation to be done,” said police spokesman Lt. Andy Havey.

"The essence of being a police officer is common sense and discretion," Chief Kunkle added. "I can't imagine a worse circumstance."

WFAA.com has received over 1,000 comments comments about the incident since the story first aired on Channel 8 Wednesday night.

WFAA.com staff editors Marjorie Owens and Walt Zwirko contributed to this report.

Officer Powell, under national scrutiny, now regrets he didn't exercise better judgment.

Robert Powell, through his attorneys Bob Gorsky and Christopher Livingston of Lyon, Gorsky, Haring & Gilbert, LLP, has authorized the release of this statement:

"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 on March 18, 2009. After stopping Mr. Moats' vehicle, I showed poor judgment and insensitivity to Mr. Moats and his family by my words and actions. With great remorse I accept my responsibility for adding to their grief in an already difficult time.
I have attempted to reach Mr. Moats to express my personal condolences directly to his family and my regret about my actions. While these efforts have been unsuccessful so far, I hope we can talk soon.

Again, I am very sorry for what I did and ask for the forgiveness of all those touched by these unfortunate events."

Whoever said this was only news because of who Moats is, they're correct, but that doesn't justify Powells actions. Officers are all to quick to exercise their discretion when it's another officers family involved, but anyone else and they suddenly have no discretion in the matter. Shut up and find your insurance card or i'm going to have your car towed. shut up and do exactly what i say...i'm going to screw you over!

As a citizen of Florida I'm not the least bit surprised to see power tripping FL LEO's in here defending Powells actions. Pay them no mind, the unprofessional crap they pull down here and get away with make officer Powell look like a gentleman. ops:

Having actually watched the video I think think Powells handling of the incident was unprofessional and uncalled for. He failed to exercise reasonable discretion and made threats that he should be reprimanded for.

The excuses being made above for his actions, by someone who admitted hasn't even reviewed the video is a load of crap!

Coming from a liberal and anti police person like yourself, it doesn't surprize me to hear your comments.
Then in your unexperienced opinion, how would you sugest he'd handle that situation.......Oh Mr NFL player, it is ok that you flamboyantly disregarded the law, did what ever you wanted to do go ahead and leave with just a warning now.......Since you' rich and popular.
The Officer was a gentleman and he handled the situation proffessionally, they were the ones that were outraged.
If he loved his mother in law soo much he should have been at the hospital sleeping next to her, rather than going about his bussiness and when he heard the call. drive like an ass hole.