On November 15th, the New York Times wrote an article Florida State Player Fled Crash but Got Only Traffic Ticket. The NYT investigative reporter found the following: On October 5th, the FSU starting cornerback drove his car into the path of an oncoming vehicle driven by a teenager around 2:30 AM. Florida law requires that persons involved in an automobile accident remain at the scene of the incident if substantial damage or personal injuries have resulted. Instead, the driver, FSU player P. J. and at least one passenger, FSU player Ronald Darby, left the scene. 

Initially, the Tallahassee police responded correctly to the off-campus accident, eventually reaching out to the Florida State University police and the university’s athletic department. After correctly reporting the crime as a hit and run, Tallahassee police altered the official version the next day.  They changed the record to make it appear that the hit and run never happened. This is abhorrent. 

Mr. Williams eventually returned to the scene. But Tallahassee officers did not test him for alcohol. Nor did their report indicate whether they asked if he had been drinking or why he had fled — logical questions, since the accident occurred at 2:37 a.m. The report also minimized the impact of the crash on the driver of the other car, Ian Keith, by failing to indicate that his airbag had deployed — an important detail, because Mr. Keith said in an interview that the airbag had cut and bruised his hands.

The university police, who lacked jurisdiction, nevertheless sent two ranking officers — including the shift commander — to the scene. Yet they wrote no report about their actions that night. Florida State dismissed the role of its officers in the episode as too minor to require a report or to be entered into their own online police log, comparing it to an instance when campus officers responded to a baby opossum falling from a tree.

The New York Times described a totally different action by the Tallahassee officers against an ordinary citizen.  Instead of white washing the incident, the driver was charged with a hit and run. The ordinary citizen left the scene and drove home after a minor, low-speed accident in the same area late last month. That driver and his mother contacted the police about a half-hour later to report the accident. At five miles per hour, the collision inflicted far less damage than that caused by Mr. Williams’s car — and caused no injuries. Even so, the police charged the driver, who was not a Florida State football player, with hit and run.

The NYT is now examining whether authorities have gone easy of Florida State football player accused of a 2012 rape. The accusation is against quarterback Jameis Winston, the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner. Winston is scheduled for student disciplinary action hearing Dec 1, nearly two years after the accusation was first made.

Florida State declined to make anyone available for an interview. In a series of written responses to questions, the university gave shifting answers, at one point saying, incorrectly, that Mr. Williams had driven his car home and that the Tallahassee police were required to call the campus police under a “mutual aid agreement.” A Tallahassee police spokesman said there was no policy requiring its officers to contact the university when its students committed traffic violations.

As for Mr. Williams, court records showed that two days after the accident, he paid $296 in overdue fines, related to an earlier speeding ticket, in order to have his license reinstated. But the $392 in fines related to the Oct. 5 crash remained unpaid, and overdue, as of this week. As a result, his license was suspended again

For years, the Tallahassee police and officials of Florida State University have turned the other way when football players have committed crimes. As a result, the reputation of Florida State has been marred.

I suspect that someday investigative reporters will uncover many transgressions committed by Florida State football players. When this information is aired, I visualize a scenario similar to the repercussions at Penn State, when Jerry Sandusky’s abusive behavior surfaced. The costs to the University were immense, including the firing of long time football coach Joe Paterno and the president of the university.  Furthermore, Penn State paid a $60 million penalty and came very close to losing their football program. 

In recent months we have seen numerous incidents involving professional football players’ abusive behavior toward their wives, girlfriends, and children.  Many of us believe that such actions evolve from a pattern of behavior where football players receive preferential treatment. In essence, they are “above the law.” 

The insensitivity of the Tallahassee police and Florida State officials to their legal responsibilities is an abomination.  I would love to be part of a community action to protest these outrages.