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<p>To add to that, I have friends that are AA that they have been questioned and followed in stores while shopping. Absolutely appalling!!</p>
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<p>No, it was Gates’ racial narrative that “(white) cops are up to no good” that made him think that. Gates assumed the cop was out to get him from the get-go.</p>
<p>The problem here is that there are so many opportunities on both sides of the Gates/Crowley interaction for conclusions to be jumped to.</p>
<p>I think that it is entirely possible that Officer Crowley didn’t have a racist thought in his head when he made the arrest. But in the context of over a hundred years of police profiling of black men as all criminals, of getting pulled over for “Driving While Black,” of police questioning any black guy in nice neghborhood as being “out of place,” it’s easy to see how Professor Gates could have jumped to the conclusion that he was being harrassed by the cops IN HIS OWN HOUSE - basically for being black - in a way that would almost never happen to a white guy.</p>
<p>Similarly, it easy to see how Officer Crowley, thanks to a decades-long career spent investigating real crimes and arresting real criminals who DID do the crime - a high percentage of which were black, plus watching any number of episodes of COPS, could easily jump to the conclusion that a black man seen forcing the door of a house in a nice neighborhood is very likely to be committing a crime. And when the guy immediately gets all mouthy, it only confirms the suspicion that he is dealing with a bad apple. In other words, he may well have unconsciously engaged in racial profiling without necessarily ever thinking an overtly racist thought.</p>
<p>Two guys, both well-meaning and good at their jobs, but coming from very different backgrounds and experiences, can easily jump to opposite conclusions in the same circumstance. And have a head-on collision when they do.</p>
<p>Just thought I’d weigh in here with some notes from my legal experience. (I haven’t read the whole thread, so sorry if I am repeating anything that’s already been said). My opinion, of course – but it is an opinion that comes of 20+ years of direct experience with the criminal justice system.</p>
<h1>1. The arrest for “disorderly conduct” was completely bogus and entirely unsupportable. (Se [Massachusetts</a> Disorderly Conduct Laws - MA Defense Lawyer - Mass Attorney Elliot Savitz](<a href=“http://www.masscriminaldefense.com/disorderly.htm]Massachusetts”>http://www.masscriminaldefense.com/disorderly.htm) ). It’s not a law that really applies to stuff a person says or does in their own home or on their front porch – unless that stuff is really extreme. So to my legal eye, that arrest right there tell me the cop was in the wrong.</h1>
<h1>2. Cops typically will book an individual on one of number of bogus charges (disorderly conduct, interfering with a police officer, resisting arrest) when the cop has done something wrong – the arrest is meant to turn the tables and avoid a citizen complaint. The more typical circumstance is that cop roughs someone up, charges him with resisting arrest or battery on a police officer – knowing that the charges will be dismissed, but also figuring that the arrest will neutralize the impact of any complaint the citizen makes. (Having been arrested, the citizen has become a “suspect” who is seen as biased or having a motive to make a false complaint).</h1>
<h1>3. There is nothing that will get a cop ticked off faster than challenging him by asking for his ID and badge number. I was told that years ago by a retired cop who had become an expert witness in police brutality cases – it was his experience that was the statement that triggered the officer’s rage in the majority of cases. (The 2nd most common “cause” of police brutality is a fleeing suspect).</h1>
<h1>4. There was no reason for the cop to ask Gates to step outside his home. Cops ask a person to step outside because it gives them more power – it would be illegal for the cop to arrest a person who was inside their home without a warrant, but the stepping outside part puts the person in the cop’s control. Gates was right to refuse to step outside initially – but he made a mistake when he came out later (with the obvious result) (IF he came out – the photo taken of Gates in handcuffs shows him at his front doorstep, so it looks to me like the cop fudged on the location).</h1>
<h1>5. Arguing with the cop & yelling is stupid. No matter what the person’s skin color. But it isn’t illegal.</h1>
<p>I think this article also calls it right: [Gates</a>’ arrest shows what citizens and cops should do – and not do | Midwest Voices](<a href=“http://voices.kansascity.com/node/5221]Gates”>http://voices.kansascity.com/node/5221)</p>
<h1>6. In my experience, cops lie in their police reports about 90% of the time. I don’t mean that the reports are 90% lies, I mean that there almost alway is some sort of biased or exaggerated account of what happened in one or more particulars. It’s understandable that cops fudge on things - the whole point of the report is to justify the arrests they make and the reports are generally written hours after the incident takes place. They have a clear bias – just the same as when a parent or teacher sees 2 kids fighting, they aren’t going to get a true account of what happened if they only ask 1 kid. The people who get arrested also lie about what happened – again, its just internal biases kicking in, but the cops tend to be more sophisticated about it. A cop knows what the elements are of an offense, so he is going to slant his writing to support the arrest. (Cops tend to tell the same lies over and over again, using the same language – which is how experienced defense attorneys learn how to recognize them. Plus the lies tend to come up in particular circumstances, usually to justify a questionable arrest or search).</h1>
<p>As a lawyer I learned to sort out fact from opinion, and pay attention to verbs and ignore adjectives. There’s a good analysis looking at both sides here: [No</a>, Henry Louis Gates Is Not a ‘Railer,’ a ‘Brawler,’ or a ‘Common Street Walker’ - Henry louis gates - Gawker](<a href=“http://gawker.com/5321278/henry-louis-gates-is-no-railer--brawler-or-common-street-walker]No”>http://gawker.com/5321278/henry-louis-gates-is-no-railer--brawler-or-common-street-walker)</p>
<p>Pres. Obama, has now spoken with Officer Crowley and has stated he is good officer, and someone he would have a beer with!</p>
<p>So now for those who said Crowley was a simpleton and abused powers, are you also going to also state I rushed to judge him as a racist? I am interested to know if you wil re-think your position because of the Presdent’s statement, or will you still say he was a racist or simpleton? If you chnage your opinion was it because Obama came out and said he jumped or from other posters?</p>
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<p>My FIL, an ob-gyn, once was stopped for speeding on the way to a delivery. In order to save time, he jumped out of the car (to tell the officer that he really had to get moving) and the officer promptly slapped cuffs on him. I understand why. The cops have to work under the presumption that when there is smoke, there’s fire. </p>
<p>Look, they can make two errors: Not investigate a suspicious situation <em>enough</em> (and therefore the abused wife doesn’t get rescued, the person being held hostage gets robbed and shot, etc.) or they can investigate <em>too much</em> and offend someone’s feelings (e.g., the Gates situation). Which is a worse error to make? You mathematicians will recognize the type I and type II error in here somewhere :-)</p>
<p>LOL. Well now. I have posted several examples of how awful the cops can be.
[ YouTube link removed - Mod JEM]
Since the cop has the guns and the might of law on his side, he has the responsibilty to control how he uses them. The cop in this example allows this poor man to vent, but carries on with his job.</p>
<p>We’ll know how the cop actually was as soon as the tapes are released.</p>
<p>I still think if this particular officer has racial problems in his past we would have heard about them by now.</p>
<p>Drosselmeier, none of us --black, white, latino, asian, etc-- is allowed to post YouTube videos on College Confidential.</p>
<p>
I think Heather MacDonald makes a great point here. I’m not sure if the Jersey City house shootings were as big news elsewhere as in this area, but I’d bet a cupcake that Officer Crowley knew about that.</p>
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<p>Please. This is really a lot of nonsense. I have no problem with asking Gates to step outside, and I am sure Gates has no problem with it either. Once again, there is a way to do this that signals to the homeowner that his care is under concern. The white cop did not express this to Gates, and I am certain of it because Gates is very reasonable and appreciates these things. Indeed, he even says he will buy flowers for the neighbor who made the initial report because he appreciates her kindness in watching his home. What most frightened Gates was how the white officer barked at Gates, which signaled that Gates’s concern was not at issue, but that Gates was very near to being taken down, possibly assaulted and arrested by the cops as a robber. I am very well convinced that had Gates been white, the cop would easily have assumed that Gates belonged in the home and would have said “Sir. We received a report of a breaking and entering and wanted to make sure everything is okay. Could you step outside so that we can confirm who you are and whether all is well?”</p>
<p>Had the cop did this, Gates would undoubtedly have said “sure, officer. One moment. Here is my ID. I live here, and everything is just fine.”</p>
<p>But Gates is black, and that means he is guilty until he proves he is innocent. Unfortunately, history proves that where cops are involved with black folks, it could mean* [YouTube link removed - Mod JEM] *a lot of pain and perhaps even death.</p>
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<p>Emphasis mine. My assumption would be that ANYone seen forcing the door of a house in ANY neighborhood is likely to be committing a crime, whether the person is black, white, green, or blue. I might recognize that there may be something perfectly innocent going on, but I’m still going to proceed as if a crime is being committed (and for me, that means calling the police) if I see such activity. </p>
<p>Two guys were trying to force their way into a house! It’s not because they are black that they are seen as suspicious – it’s because they are acting in a suspicious way. Trying to force entrance into a house is suspicious behavior!!</p>
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<p>Actually it was good police work to ask Gates to step outside. The officer was protecting himself and Prof Gates.
The SGT was responding to a breaking and entering. He had no way of knowing what he would find. When he saw Gates in the foyer, he would have been remiss if he had asked to come it, potentially putting himself and Gates in danger.
Don’t forget, there was no back up there yet, he was a lone police officer and the building was not secure.
What if there was a perpertrator lurking in the building? entering could have provoked a confrontation.
What if Gates was actually being held hostage? The SGT needed to see that Gates could act on his own free will.</p>
<p>A few months ago, there was a thread about a 72 year old woman who was tasered at a traffic stop. She mouthed off to the cop. A number of posters (a majority, I think) thought it was perfectly okay for her to be tasered and arrested as she was disrespectful to the officer. She and the officer were both white.
If she was a black woman would this be a racial issue? if so then why is it okay for a white 72 year old woman to be tasered and arrested but not a 60 year old disrespectful black man?
Are we moving toward a double standard? Is is more appropriate to arrest an uneducated elderly woman than a 60 year old influential professor?
I am pretty sure that if the officer were black and the resident was a 30 year old white man who mouthed off, you all would be praising the officer.</p>
<p>Did I misunderstand in thinking that something actually HAD happened to the door? I wonder why the owner in such a situation wouldn’t want the police to check things out.</p>
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That’s not what Professor Gates, himself, said.</p>
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Have you heard the tapes to know if Officer Crowley did, in fact, bark or are you creating fiction again?</p>
<p><a href=“%5Burl=http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062968933-post459.html]#459[/url]”>quote</a>…From the [[WSJ</a>] article](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203517304574306162620043236.html#mod=rss_opinion_main][WSJ”>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203517304574306162620043236.html#mod=rss_opinion_main):… </p>
<p>…Crowley had no business remaining on the scene once he had ascertained that Gates belonged in the house…
[/quote]
</p>
<p>From the [President’s</a> news conference](<a href=“http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/23/politics/main5182101.shtml]President’s”>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/23/politics/main5182101.shtml):</p>
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<p>From a [NYT’s</a> article](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/us/24blacks.html?_r=1]NYT’s”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/us/24blacks.html?_r=1):</p>
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<p>Now, from the New York Times article [Officer</a> Defends Arrest of Harvard Professor](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/us/24cambridge.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp]Officer”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/us/24cambridge.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp):</p>
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<ol>
<li>Either a driver’s license was offered or it wasn’t.</li>
<li>Does the license show the same address as the house that was under investigation?</li>
</ol>
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<p>Drosselmeier, had Gates exhibited the slightest amount of reason and courtesy, he would have never seen the inside of a Cambridge Police cell. </p>
<p>Obviously, you are entitled to your opinion, but not to your own set of facts. The next thing we’ll have to read is how Gates was arrested in his sleep by a clan of Ninjas. </p>
<p>Please do not cover yourself in ridicule with statements such as “because Gates is very reasonable …” Please do not lower yourself to the same level of the many posters who have come here and simply repeated the same stories that have been demonstrated to be entirely fictional …a few hundred posts ago.</p>
<p>Crowley is reportedly a good officer, but good intelligent people can make dumb mistakes sometimes and this was one. </p>
<p>Did this arrest have to be made to protect people and property? No. All the officers had to do to defuse the situation was leave. There was no reason to take the drastic action of hauling a man out of his home (or off his porch) in handcuffs. Abuse of power? That’s for a review board to decide. </p>
<p>Good Boston Globe column on the subject:</p>
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<p>imo Gates is an a/hole but still once he showed id, time for
the officer to immediately get off his property. His job is complete, mission
accomplished.</p>
<p>Drosselmeier, it’s inherently racist to assume that all whites, or all white cops, are automatically out to get you.</p>