Officer in Tyreek Hill detainment put on administrative duty, chief pledges transparency

A second Miami Dolphin was detained shortly after star wide receiver Tyreek Hill was pulled over and also handcuffed, officials said Monday, in what the mayor called a “troubling” interaction that’s led to at least one officer being taken off the streets.

Fans outside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens recorded video of police surrounding Hill before he was placed face-down on the ground and handcuffed ahead of the Dolphins’ season-opening victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

The video was widely shared on social media.

Hill’s teammate defensive lineman Calais Campbell later told reporters he was driving by and stopped to try to de-escalate the situation before he was also detained.

A police department representative on Monday confirmed that Campbell, a highly respected 38-year-old veteran and former Walter Payton Man of the Year winner, was also detained.

But the spokesperson declined to offer additional details, including names of the officers who pulled over Hill and handcuffed the players, citing an ongoing internal affairs investigation. 

At least four officers can be seen in the video.

Miami-Dade Police Department Director Stephanie Daniels said Sunday that she’s ordered an internal affairs investigation and that one of the officers involved had been placed on administrative duties while the investigation is conducted.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a statement Sunday that she commended authorities’ call “for a swift internal review.”

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

Hill was cited for reckless driving and driving without a license, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said. Those violations shouldn’t have led to officers detaining Hill, the agent said.

“I don’t want to speak for him but it certainly felt like he wasn’t treated fairly,” Rosenhaus told NBC South Florida on Sunday. “Things escalated out of control.”

A police union representative on Monday said Hill wasn’t cooperative and that he refused “to sit on the curb” leading to him being “redirected” to the ground.

The officer who has been put on administrative duty is a 25-year veteran of the department, according to the union.

“When the officers were trying to talk to him, he was being very uncooperative,” South Florida Police Benevolent Association President Steadman Stahl told NBC South Florida.

“They asked him to roll the window down. You can see from the video, he doesn’t roll the window down,” Stahl said. “It’s going back and forth. There is a little bit of suspicion why he’s not rolling the window down, and then he is a little bit agitated as he’s getting out of the car, and so they just put him in handcuffs, just to make sure that he’s going to stay safe and we’re going to stay safe.”

Steadman said Hill should have complied with officers in the moment and then filed a complaint later if he disagreed with any of their actions.

“He shook the hands with the officers at the end of it, before he left, and there was an apology on his behalf for his actions,” Steadman said.

Hill’s agent could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday.

A police spokesperson said the agency could not comment on the union’s account of events.

“Our office and our department cannot provide any information, any comments,” the police spokesperson said. “They (the union) don’t fall under that same rule.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he was confident that investigators will be able determine whether police took correct action.

“I have confidence in agencies throughout this state that they want to uphold the highest standards of professionalism, and if, for some reason that wasn’t followed here, I know that they will, they will make that clear,” DeSantis told reporters on Monday during an event to discuss the rising costs of condominium safety upgrades.