WASHINGTON — American drivers might universally wince or brace themselves at the sight and sound of flashing red and blue lights and blaring sirens, but all drivers have constitutional rights when pulled over on the road.
The question of one’s responsibility to comply with all instructions given by a law enforcement officer recently came up following a pregame traffic stop this month involving Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
Although Hill has acknowledged he could have handled the interaction with Miami-Dade police better, the video of him being pulled out of his car, placed on the ground and handcuffed revived a national conversation about the realities of “driving while Black.” Studies show Black motorists are more likely to face the threat or use of force by police in traffic stops, like Hill did, and many Black families give a version of “the talk” to loved ones about how to interact with police officers.
“The immediate short-term goal is to get out of the encounter without being arrested, and the way to do that, again, is to communicate not just with compliance, but obedience and respect, even if you don’t think that that’s deserved,” said Georgetown University law professor Paul Butler.
Being combative with traffic officers can invite unwanted scrutiny
Miami lawyer E.J. Hubbs said he believes both Hill and the police officers in the now-viral video of the arrest had faults in their interactions.
Body camera footage showed the officer asking Hill to roll down his window and Hill complying, Hubbs said. Hill then told the officer “to give me my ticket,” after handing him his identification, which Hubbs said was also fair.
Where things escalated was when Hill decided to roll his window back up, as the officer’s body camera footage shows.
“When Mr. Hill refused to roll down his window, that was not complying with one of his commands,” Hubbs said. “And when he was asked to exit the car, he didn’t comply with that command,…
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