Editorial: Could have Tyreek Hill's traffic stop ended differently? Miami-Dade needs the answer

The Tyreek Hill rough takedown case is still unfolding, but one thing has become clear: From the moment Miami-Dade police officers yanked the Dolphins star player by the neck from his gull-wing McLaren and forced him to the ground last Sunday, a routine traffic stop in South Florida became part of the painful, national discussion about driving while Black and use of force by police.

There’s a lot we don’t yet know about what happened when the Dolphins star player was pulled over by police, apparently for speeding, near Hard Rock Stadium. But it’s becoming evident that officers missed the opportunity to de-escalate a situation that seemingly was sparked by Hill’s failure to follow police orders to keep his car window rolled down.

Body-cam video that Miami-Dade police released on Monday evening — a welcome, if rare, example of speedy police transparency — has been enlightening. It shows a situation that escalated fast. An officer told Hill to roll down his window, and when that didn’t happen, the officer rapidly pulled the 30-year-old football player out of the car, saying he was done playing games.

Hill was handcuffed and forced to the street. Later on, when he was standing up, still handcuffed, he was forced to the ground a second time.

Drivers near the stadium recorded the encounter, posting the cellphone video. Watching it feels like a gut-punch: a top NFL star face down on the pavement, hands cuffed behind his back, with one officer kneeling on his back as others surround him. How many echoes of terrible encounters in the past does that image carry?

The community and national discussion this has triggered is vital. Did police overreact? How much did Hill’s behavior affect what happened?

The fallout has just begun. One officer, 27-year veteran Danny Torres, was placed on administrative duty while an internal investigation is conducted. The Miami-Dade mayor issued a statement saying “the detaining officer acted in deeply troubling ways.” The two candidates running for Miami-Dade sheriff told the Miami Herald Editorial Board that they were disturbed by what they saw on the video.

Rosie Cordero-Stutz, the GOP nominee for sheriff and a county police administrator on leave during her campaign, called what she saw “unacceptable behavior from any law enforcement officer.” James Reyes, her Democratic opponent who oversees the police department as chief safety officer, said police using profanity — Hill was berated by an officer as being “f-----g confused”— is “concerning” and he criticized the “discourtesy” he saw.

Hill’s actions weren’t perfect. The wide receiver said Wednesday: “I will say I could’ve been better. I could’ve let down my window in that instant, but the thing about me is I don’t want attention. I don’t want to be cameras out, phones on you in that moment.”

Police take their lives into their hands when they pull someone over. A rolled-up tinted window causes automatic concern, understandably so. In this case, Hill had already handed over his license when he rolled his window back up, so he had initially been compliant.

Still, failure to obey a lawful order by an officer is serious, something Hill acknowledged during a press conference, saying, “I’ve got to follow rules, I’ve got to do what everyone else would do. Now, does that give them the right to literally beat the dog out of me? Absolutely not.” Hill is no stranger to law enforcement, having previously pleaded guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation involving his pregnant girlfriend in 2015.

He also called for Torres to be fired, saying the officer should be “gone. Gone. Gone. Gone.”

How Miami-Dade police and the community come out of this difficult moment is still unclear. But the work has begun. Miami-Dade County’s Black Affairs Advisory Board discussed on Wednesday the dehumanizing nature of such encounters, Hill’s conduct and questions about police de-escalation.

Trust in law enforcement is critical. Moments like this can erode trust — or help build it.

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