I am all down for forgiving this horribly insensitive act.  And if he is really sincere, perhaps he will be a better officer if he lands a  job on another police force.  Certainly before that happens a face to face apology or even a phone call to the Moats family would be appropriate.  He’s not going to be sued so that crap apology through his attorney is not going to cut it!

Some may wonder what the big deal is about.  He had every right to stop the driver.  I understand that perfectly.  The inexcusable part was his attitude and his reluctance to let it go especially after a nurse and another officer confirmed that the man’s mother in law really was on her last breath. 

You can’t spin that with talk of officer’s lives being on the line everyday and what not.  One thing I know from not only being stopped by police but also having friends who are officers; discretion and brevity is something that is used on the daily.  In other words, if they followed the letter of the law in every situation, believe me most of us would cringe at their micromanagement.  The truth of the matter is that they use discretion all the time.  This is a time when it should have been used.  Instead, Officer Powell went out of his way not to use it.  Rather he wanted to show Moats how in charge he was in one of the worst possible moments of the man’s life.