I’ve seen many shocking things on the internet, but this one is a hard one for me to recover from. Unbelievable.
I guess it pinched my sense of injustice a little too much. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big believer in rules and the law. Even when I don’t agree with the law, I support the process of everyone agreeing to follow what the majority has decided on. For instance, even if you didn’t vote for the presidential candidate who won, you still have to abide and recognize him once the majority has spoken. Otherwise, if we all went by our own rules, anarchy ensues. So ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll agree that I’m a stickler for rules. So I agree with the policeman when he flagged down the car which rolled through a red light. But once he turned INTO the hospital parking lot, AND explained the predicament, was it too much too ask to at least verify first if the driver was telling the truth? And if need be, give him the ticket AFTER he says goodbye to his dying mother-in-law! I’m not saying suspend the enforcement of traffic rules to every joe who claims to be rushing to an emergency, but when it is verifiable, already being in the HOSPITAL PARKING LOT, I think a little humanity dictates the lowering of hubris and applying a little bit of compassion. True, it is a judgment call, and different people will have different views on the matter, but I personally, am appalled by this display of lack of kindness. He could have followed them to the room just to check if they were telling the truth. Sorry, it just touched a nerve. Hours after, I was still bristling at the thought. Sometimes we need to understand the spirit of the law, and not just the letter of the law. Call me naive, but I believe that law enforcement and human compassion CAN co-exist.
sorry! i dont know what happened, but the discussion was closed. it took me an hour to figure out how to open the comment box again! finally i figured it out, so here it is!
grabe naman yung mga pulis…
F-ing power tripping, is what he was doing. that is just so messed up.
i’m not sure if the cop was just ego-tripping or was just really doing it by the book, but we really do need common sense 101 in our curricula. common sense is getting rarer nowadays.
Simple (and not-so-naive) explanation: Driver was black.
agree with above. driver was black. a white driver can say whatever shit to the police, doesn’t matter. tsk.
kung dito mangyari yan sa pilipinas, there’s a throng of people from all over who’s gonna gang up on that policeman. buti na lang dito ang mga police napapakiusapan, mabait at may malasakit (at least yung iba).
sigh, mga pulis nga naman oh. walang ganyan sa pinas kasi una kulang naman sa kotse mga pulis kaya hindi makakahabol, at pangalawa, mas lalo naman in-dash camera ang mga police car.
pero ganun din ang asal.. anyone driving in edsa would have been pulled over for “swerving” at least once in probably their first year of driving. what’s annoying is they don’t even know what “swerving” is. much less know what the driver’s situation was. there was even this one time when i was pulled over right before the aurora blvd underpass for swerving, the kicker was i did NOT even change lanes, i was travelling a straight line at the outermost lane that’s not inside the bus lane. big huh??? then they go on lecturing you how this is all for public safety etc etc all the while making you late all for an offense that you didn’t even commit.
i sware, power corrupts. absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Obviously the officer was single which is why he couldn’t relate to the driver’s frantic state of mind. Because otherwise, he would have known that nothing can make a married man more excited than the news that his mother-in-law is finally dying. Pah-rum-pum.
Sure the man was Black, but he’s an NFL running back. If the policeman wasn’t a football fan, it would explain… but that rarely happens. Americans love their sports.
Another thing, the SUV had flashing lights, which (if i’m not mistaken)is a signal of emergency. My dad taught me that (and i don’t drive) because kahit sa pilipinas it’s the same rule. Either the cop was an idiot, that he was doing the right thing with the hazard lights flashing; or he’s power-tripping. kse nga naman big shot yung pinara nya, di ba? and as observed, americans love to be on television even if it makes a complete fool of them. obviously, the cop was desperate to make a mark of his own. and he did… thank God he’s suspended because he’s an inhuman imbecile who is power tripping.
He even drew his gun! On a parking space of a hospital.. the stupid cop was really hungry.. POWER HUNGRY.
At least he was a good cop, though not a good person, (or good judge of character for that matter).
“Sometimes we need to understand the spirit of the law, and not just the letter of the law.” Amen to that sir Chico….Sometimes being kind is better than being right….
that police officer apologized to moats (the nfl player) and moats accepted the apology. but the pressure must have been too much kasi the police officer also resigned yesterday, i think. imagine if moats’ wife actually followed the officer and didn’t come in to see her mom? no apology or resignation would suffice if that happened.
i have watched this in Inside Edition, I think… I also think this is racism… He would not listen to him cause he’s black… Tsk tsk… So unfortunate…
unbelievable indeed!!!!
that is so freakin’ stupid.
i think i also agree with japo.