The bodycam video from the Tyreek Hill detainment shows an extreme, punitive reaction to the perception that Hill was not being cooperative and compliant with police officers. It became, in my view, less about securing his cooperation and compliance and more about teaching him a lesson for not immediately cooperating and complying.
Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, appeared earlier today with Dan LeBatard. And Rosenhaus was asked for his viewpoint on what the Miami-Dade Police Department should do, given the video evidence.
“For me, personally, I think the police officers that did that to Tyreek shouldn’t be in that position,” Rosenhaus said, while the bodycam video played. “They should be let go. Look at — the guy who just kicked him right there. That guy should be fired. That’s out of control. The guy that jumped in [and] put him in a chokehold? There’s no place for a police officer to have a badge that operates like that when Tyreek wasn’t being aggressive or violent or fighting back in any capacity. That was horrendous how they treated him. They didn’t treat him like a human being.”
Does Hill also believe the police officers should be fired?
“Well, I’ll let Tyreek speak to that,” Rosenhaus said. “That’s my opinion. He and I have not had that specific discussion. But certainly I would recommend to Tyreek and the legal team that that’s something that we pursue. You know, I think he deserves an apology from each and every one of those police officers involved. And the ones that abused their authority and power should not be on the force, in my opinion, moving forward.”
In my opinion, Hill and the police need to find a common ground, accept partial responsibility for the situation (the police seem to be more responsible, but Hill wasn’t entirely blameless), and come up with a way to inform citizens and officers regarding the best way to handle traffic stops and other interactions. It could avoid unnecessary problems moving forward. It could literally save lives.
Ultimately, force should be used only when necessary. If someone is initially uncooperative and then becomes cooperative once it’s apparent that force will be used, the plug should be pulled on, as in this case, yanking the guy out of the car and forcing him to the ground and cuffing him and doing whatever else happened.