Police union says officers were correct to handcuff NFL star Tyreek Hill facedown

Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill was handcuffed and placed facedown on the ground during a traffic stop because he was not “immediately cooperative” with officers, the president of the union that represents the Miami-Dade Police Department said in a statement on Monday.

A video of Hill in handcuffs with at least three officers around him quickly went viral just hours before the Dolphins kicked off their season on Sunday. Hill later said he had been respectful and didn’t know why the officers placed him in handcuffs.

“I have no idea, for real,” Hill said after Sunday’s game. “I wasn’t disrespectful because my mom didn’t raise me that way. Didn’t cuss. Didn’t do none of that. So like I said, I’m still trying to figure it out, man.”

Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, said Hill was handcuffed according to the police department’s policy.

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“Before the Dolphins game yesterday, an incident occurred where Tyreek Hill was placed in handcuffs before being released,” Stahl said in a statement. “First, to be clear, at no time was he ever under arrest. 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 the 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.”

A police officer was temporarily placed on administrative leave after the incident and the department has begun an internal review. Miami-Dade Police director Stephanie Daniels told the Miami Herald on Monday that the decision to place the officer on leave came after a review of the body camera footage from the roadside incident.

Daniella Levine Cava, the mayor of Miami-Dade county, released a statement commending the department’s immediate launch of an investigation.

“In recent years, our nation has confronted important conversations on the use of force,” she said, “and the internal review process will answer questions about why the troubling actions shown in public video footage were taken by the officer.”

Hill said the officers told him he had been pulled over for speeding and reckless driving, but added that he didn’t know why the situation escalated. Hill’s teammate, defensive tackle Calais Campbell, was also briefly handcuffed after he said he tried to deescalate the situation. Campbell said he was on his way to the game when he saw Hill handcuffed.

“They were trying to yank him down to the ground,” Campbell told ESPN on Monday. “I saw them kick him and pull him down, I mean, pulling [on] the cuffs; shoulders looked like they were messing up. They kind of got him down. I feel like one officer was pushing on his head.”

Campbell said he got out of his car with his hands up above his head and approached the scene, informing officers that he was a friend of Hill. He remained at the scene to “support” the wide receiver after he said officers asked him to leave. Police later placed Campbell in handcuffs for “disobeying a direct order” by being too close to the scene.

In a later appearance on The Andy Slater Show, Stahl said he wanted to review bodycam footage before responding to Hill’s comments about the incident. Stahl added that Hill had shook hands with the officers when he was released.

Hill went on to play in Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, which kicked off just hours after his detainment. He appeared to reference the incident after scoring an 80-yard touchdown, celebrating with his arms behind his back as if he was in handcuffs.

Hill said his fame may have stopped the situation from escalating.

“I don’t want to bring race into it, but sometimes it gets kind of iffy when you do,” Hill, who is Black, said. “What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill? Lord knows what that guy or guys would have done. I was just making sure that I was doing what my uncle always told me to do whenever you’re in a situation like that: ‘Just listen, put your hands on the steering wheel and just listen.’”

Hill is one of the best receivers in the NFL, and has been named to the Pro Bowl in every season since he entered the league in 2016. He led the league in receiving last season with a career high 1,799 yards. He won the Super Bowl with his previous team, the Kansas City Chiefs, in February 2020. He was traded to the Dolphins in March 2022 and signed a four-year, $120m contract extension that makes him the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL.

Sunday’s incident wasn’t the first time Hill has come into contact with Miami-Dade police. Last offseason, Hill was under investigation by the department for assault and battery after it was reported that he got into an argument with a marina worker, which apparently ended with Hill hitting the worker. Hill and the man later resolved their dispute.