Tyreek Hill’s arrest once again highlights escalation of policing in America

The scene played out similarly to many others we’ve seen over time.

A black man detained by police for an apparently trivial crime was surrounded by several officers, forced to the bottom, a knee placed on his back, and handcuffed.

In some cases, the incident escalates to the purpose where the black man is choked, tasered or, God forbid, shot. And in even rarer cases, the black man is someone the general public has seen on their television screens countless times.

That was the case Sunday when Miami Dolphins guard Tyreek Hill was handcuffed, detained by Miami-Dade police, after which issued tickets for careless driving and never wearing a seat belt on his approach to the team’s game at Hard Rock Stadium. Body camera video The incident shows Hill was hostile toward the officer. He was asked to indicate identification and ordered to maintain his window down. He was later dragged from his automobile and thrown face-first into the roadway while 4 officers stood over him, one of whom put his knee into Hill’s back and handcuffed him.

Although Hill was released from custody with only two tickets, the incident once again highlights the issue of escalating police violence in America and the acute exposure to it that black drivers in particular are subject to.

When it involves race and policing, there’s a natural tendency in this country to stay your fingers in your ear and loudly scream “la la la la la.” “And it’s the same with white people. It’s the same with white people. What a terrible question,” said then-President Donald Trump said when asked by CBS in 2020 about police killings of black Americans.

When Hill spoke to reporters after Sunday’s game, he appeared to wish to avoid talking in regards to the role race played in his arrest.

“It’s tough. I don’t want to bring race into it, but sometimes it gets a little shaky when you do it,” he said. “What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill? God knows what those guys would have done.”

Hill added that his uncle at all times told him that when coping with police, “put your hands on the wheel and just listen.” Never mind that it’s part of a “conversation” many black parents have with their children about learn how to cope with racism in this country, including in relation to police. If Hill were white, his uncle likely would never have had that conversation with him. A 2021 Stanford University study found that after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis policeWhite parents were less prone to seek advice from their children about race (“Everyone is treated equally. The color of their skin doesn’t matter,” one parent responded).

There are countless examples across the country of police responding to uninhibited, trivial matters and escalating them into violence or death. Floyd was accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill before officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Philando Castile was pulled over by police in St. Anthony, Minnesota, for a broken taillight before he was fatally shot. Sandra Bland was pulled over for failing to make a lane change by a Texas police officer who eventually arrested her after he ordered her out of her automobile when she didn’t put out a cigarette. Bland was found hanging in her jail cell three days later. Police ruled her death a suicide.

Florida is not any different. In June 2020, a Miami-Dade police officer was caught on video punching a black woman in the face at Miami International Airport after the lady argued with airport staff. As for Hill’s case, a 2014 study conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union found that black drivers in Florida were stopped and ticketed for not wearing seat belts at almost twice the speed of white drivers.

These types of pretextual stops, where officers pull over drivers for minor infractions in hopes of finding a more serious crime, typically involve black drivers. test found that black and Latino drivers were more likely than white drivers to be stopped and searched by police. As the cases of Castile and Bland show, there’s a risk that those stops can end in deadly encounters.

“It needs to be addressed,” Dolphins defensive end Jevon Holland said after Sunday’s game. “Excessive force against a black male is not uncommon. It’s a very common thing in America. It needs to be addressed on a national level.”

And part of the issue in the case of race and policing is the responsibility of those tasked with protecting the American people. There’s no denying that police have a difficult job, but like everyone else in this country, they shouldn’t be immune from criticism or consequences. Police could be protected by qualified immunity, which shields them from lawsuits, and a few departments have fought to maintain records of police misconduct from the general public.

Not to say that the police lie lots. The original statement released by the Minneapolis Police Department said Floyd was affected by “medical issues” before his death, omitting any mention of Chauvin kneeling on his neck. Despite video evidence that apparently showed Hill compliant and never resisting being handcuffed, the union representing Miami-Dade cops issued an announcement Monday saying that “at no point was (Hill) arrested,” that Hill “did not immediately cooperate,” and that Hill was “taken to the ground” after refusing to take a seat down. It made no mention of the knee being placed in his back.

Although the Miami-Dade Police Department has temporarily placed one of its officers on administrative duties, Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, he said on a neighborhood radio program that “If Mr. Hill had just complied, it would have just sped up the whole process. He didn’t, he decided to escalate the situation and turn it into something bigger than just a Dolphins victory.”

The key word here is “escalate.” Hill ignored the officers, telling them to rush up, give him a ticket, and stop knocking on his window. He has a checkered record, including a July 2023 citation from Miami-Dade police for punching a marina worker in South Florida. But history has shown that police aren’t at all times the perfect at de-escalating situations, especially when Black individuals are involved. Hill’s teammate, Calais Campbell, the NFL’s 2019 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award winner, was handcuffed for pulling over to support Hill on the side of the road. (Campbell said Monday morning that he witnessed officers kicking Hill.)

Should Hill have been speeding? No. Should he have been wearing a seatbelt? Absolutely. But in a world where a Castile or Bland death could occur after being stopped by police, there isn’t any reason Hill’s situation must have escalated to being stopped and treated as a suspect in a violent crime. The proven fact that one of the officers was faraway from duty is an indication of how badly this all went down.

“That should tell you everything you need to know,” Hill said of the officer, who was placed on administrative duty. “I’m just happy that my teammates were there to support me in my situation, because I was feeling lonely. When they showed up, I realized we have a hell of a team this year, since they’re risking their lives. It was amazing.”