Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill was handcuffed on the ground outside of Hard Rock Stadium Sunday, hours ahead of his team’s season-opening win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The wide receiver said afterward he has “no idea” why a traffic stop led to his brief detainment, but the regional police union has defended the officers involved, saying in a Monday statement that Hill put others “in great risk of danger” with his driving, then was repeatedly “uncooperative” with law enforcement.
“To be clear, at no time was [Hill] ever under arrest,” said Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association. “He was briefly detained for officer safety, after driving in a manner in which he was putting himself and others in great risk of danger. Upon being stopped, Mr. Hill was not immediately cooperative with the officers on scene who, pursuant to policy and for their immediate safety, placed Mr. Hill in handcuffs. Mr. Hill, still uncooperative, refused to sit on the ground and was therefore redirected to the ground. Once the situation was sorted out within a few minutes, Mr. Hill was issued two traffic citations and was free to leave.
“We would like to … use this as an opportunity to remember that it is always best to obey lawful police commands first, and complain later,” the statement continues. “We have worked hard across all communities to bridge the gap between what people believe law enforcement should and can do, and will continue to do so. In this case, while we wait for the investigation to run its course, based on what we know, we stand with the actions of our officers but look forward to further open communication moving forward. While we are confident in the actions that led to the stop of Mr. Hill, as with any investigation, we will wait for all of the facts to come out, along with any explanation Mr. Hill may have for his actions that initiated this unfortunate incident.”
Hill, who starred for the Dolphins in Sunday’s game, has already been contacted by the Miami-Dade Police Department to address one of the officers’ conduct, per NBC Sports, and is considering litigation while facing two citations: one for careless driving, and one for a seatbelt violation, according to ESPN. One of the officers involved, meanwhile, has been on “administrative duty” since Sunday afternoon.
Hill alleged after Sunday’s game that his conduct didn’t warrant the treatment he received.
“I have no idea for real,” he told reporters of the reason for his detainment. “[I] wasn’t disrespectful, because my mom didn’t raise me that way. Didn’t cuss. Did none of that. I’m still trying to figure that out. … I still don’t know what happened. But I do want to use this platform to say, what if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill? Worst-case scenario? It’s crazy. Like, I wanna be a cop one day. I got a State Trooper hat and all that. So I got a lot of respect for cops. But obviously everybody has some bad apples. … I wanna be able to use this platform to figure out a way to flip this and make it a positive.”
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Author: Cody Benjamin
September 9, 2024 | 1:30 pm