<p>“I don’t care if the professor was white, black, green or yellow.
He, presumably and educated man, showed contempt and complete disrespect for the police officer from the outset; according to the police report. If his statements to the officer are true then he attempted to demonstrate that he was above the law because of his status at Harvard. Sorry but that was wrong.”</p>
<p>How can you believe this? The Cambridge DA DROPPED the charges. Charges don’t get dropped because DAs want to be nice. DAs drop cases because there is no evidence or cause. Sound like the PO in this case was 100% trying to cover his ass once he realized the situation was out of control. You can go back and see from my earlier post this that I believe both parties failed to mind their manners. But after the case being dropped, I have to wonder if Mr. Gates was just reactionary to the PO.</p>
<p>The police officer’s badge was on his chest, so his badge number was available.</p>
<p>Anyone yelling “Do you know who I am?” at a police officer before identifying himself is an idiot. </p>
<p>I’ve owned my house for 16 years, and do not know all my neighbors, black, white, Asian, Martian, Jovian, or whatever. I don’t know what my neighbors do for a living, don’t watch their comings or goings, and don’t know whether any of them are published authors, professors, or television stars. If I saw two guys trying to muscle a front door open (one of whom I couldn’t possibly know), I’d call the police, and it wouldn’t matter WHAT race the guys were. I would expect the police to investigate and to establish the identity of whomever was found in the house.</p>
<p>The professor wasn’t too tired to spend 15 minutes trying to muscle the front door open; he certainly should not have been too tired to comply with the police officer’s very reasonable request to step out of the house.</p>
<p>The officer shouldn’t have arrested him, but wow, the professor shouldn’t have behaved the way he did, either.</p>
<p>“The professor wasn’t too tired to spend 15 minutes trying to muscle the front door open; he certainly should not have been too tired to comply with the police officer’s very reasonable request to step out of the house.”</p>
<p>He probably wanted his luggage. I do know my neighbors. That’s what makes it a neighborhood.</p>
<p>[Fwiw, parents, just think what YOUR reaction would be if your college-attending son or daughter called you from jail and told you of an arrest for “loud and tumultuous” behavior and admitted “challenging” cops who were leaving.]</p>
<p>“That was a prosecutor over-reacting, not cops.”</p>
<p>Yeah? What about Himan and Gottlieb convincing the Grand Jury to indict when they knew that they were innocent? What about Corporal Addison putting out the wanted poster for the entire team? Selected officials in the chain of command in the police department are being sued as is the police department.</p>
<p>The Duke lacrosse players were a great example of reaping what you sow. They made it way too easy for others to think poorly of them. They didn’t deserve what happened, but their past behavior came back to haunt them. From the way the Cambridge police reacted, you would think that Gates had engaged in prior Duke lacrosse team type behavior.</p>
<p>Which? The whole team? The three indicted players? The team minus the players?</p>
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<p>It doesn’t really matter what others thought of them. Railroading should be a hangable offense.</p>
<p>The rumors are that the three indicted players got $10 million each from Duke University (also a bad actor) and there are various lawsuits against Duke, the city and the police department.</p>
<p>What’s interesting is a similar case except that the falsely accused is is a black soccer star from Ghana. He was successfully railroaded by the police and prosecutor. He didn’t have the money to fight the corrupt officials.</p>
<p>The witness probably observed it though. I happen to notice LV plates because they’re usually attached to nice cars. I imagine that most people don’t know what LV means though.</p>
<p>“The police officer’s badge was on his chest, so his badge number was available.”</p>
<p>How do you know that Gates could read the badge number? Many people who are middle aged need reading glasses in order to read.</p>
<p>"Anyone yelling “Do you know who I am?” at a police officer before identifying himself is an idiot.</p>
<p>I’ve owned my house for 16 years, and do not know all my neighbors, black, white, Asian, Martian, Jovian, or whatever. "</p>
<p>Gates basically is a celebrity in that he’s one of the most well known Harvard professors. In general, people do know if a celebrity lives in their neighborhood. In addition. Gates is in the news often and even had at least one TV series. Also, in the Boston area – especially the expensive areas such as where Gates live – the world basically revolves around Harvard. </p>
<p>If I could recognize Henry Louis Gates when I – who don’t live anywhere near Boston – ran into him in a Cambridge business, I would think that someone who lives in Cambridge just a few blocks from Harvard would recognize him.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, even if Gates said that before giving his ID, that’s no reason to arrest him. And he did give the police officer 2 IDs. There was absolutely no reason for the policeman to ask Gates to step outside unless the police officer wanted to get back at a black man whom he regarded as being uppity – not deferential enough to a white cop.</p>
<p>"All those who replied with “I expect the cop to diffuse the situation” or “The cop should have done this or that” and sentiments similar to these: no should-haves, could-haves.</p>
<p>How is what you are saying different than: Whites have to do all the changing ? "</p>
<p>Huh? All police aren’t white.</p>
<p>Police officers are paid to keep the peace, which particularly includes defusing situations by nonviolent means.</p>
<p>There has been some research in fact that women are more effective police officers because women are better at defusing situations.</p>
<p>The purpose of the cops being called to Gates’ residence was to investigate a possible burglarly, not to arrest a man who was simply peacefully trying to enter his own home. After ascertaining that Gates wasn’t a burglar, the cops should have left, not escalated the situation by demanding that Gates come outside. There was no reason for Gates to go outside. He was a law abiding citizen in his own home.</p>
<p>The police officer asked Gates to step outside after Gates opened the door, before Gates showed any ID. From what I’ve read, this was the first thing the police officer did when the door was opened. </p>
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<p>Are you claiming that only white cops expect people to be deferential?? A black cop wouldn’t have expected Gates to step outside, wouldn’t have expected him to defer to him? </p>
<p>Presumably the witness saw the driver and Gates with the luggage on the porch and should have reported that to the officer. She also presumably saw the driver leave in his vehicle and reported that to an officer. That’s a pretty strange way to run a burglary.</p>
<p>Thank you Northstarmom. It was bad policing. Race is merely an overlay. Imagine that a white professor of classics is arrested because the neighbors believe the house is empty - he’s supposed to be in Europe and they don’t realize he returned because his daughter went into the hospital. Cop comes over, guy says its his house, cop asks for ID … and there the stories diverge. Cop says the guy refused and guy says he showed ID and the cop refused to leave. Bad policing is bad policing.</p>
<p>My experience - in prosecution, btw - is that the cop asked for ID and the guy said something like “You’re kidding.” That can be more colorfully said. A polite cop says, “I’m very sorry, sir, but I have to be careful.” A jerk cop comes in with an attitude and causes a problem, like “I need you to show me ID” which leads to “Why? This is my house” which leads to “Sir, if you don’t show me ID, I’ll arrest you” which leads to “This is my house. You can’t arrest me for being in my own house.” That is how a jerk cop or a poorly trained cop can blow a simple situation up into a mess. </p>
<p>I remember a specific case that happened in front of my house. The 91 year old woman who lived across the street was upset by the crew trimming back the trees. She was afraid they were cutting them down. She came out in her bathrobe. The guys on the crew weren’t very nice to her and she got upset. A cop on detail work cuffed her and called for her to be taken in. An upset 91 year old woman was cuffed because this idiot couldn’t do his job. They were lucky she didn’t have a heart attack because we would have been sued for millions. </p>
<p>I sympathize with police but they can be jerks. I once had a cop absolutely go red in the face yelling at me because I blocked his car from getting out of a cross street. I had a meeting that evening with his captain - by chance (karma?). He turned out to be a lousy cop and didn’t last with the force. </p>
<p>Some cops are bad at their jobs. If you remember, recently in Texas a cop prevented a man from entering a hospital so he could see his mother-in-law who was in the ER dying. (And she died.) The man was pleading and the cop kept insisting - all on tape - that the man had to remain where he was or be arrested. The cop turned out to be a lousy cop, was moved to deskwork and then quit under pressure. </p>
<p>In this case, the officer’s own report says he blew it. He says Gates showed him ID. He says he then called Harvard police for help and then told Gates to come outside. That’s where he blew it. Why ask a man who has presented ID to step outside? Wait for the Harvard police to come and then you have no situation and you say sorry we were only responding to a report have a nice day sir.</p>
<p>BCEagle, not necessarily. You don’t know when the neighbor saw something. (Neither do I.) She might have only seen them trying to force the door. You don’t know whether she saw the car drive up, Gates walk around the back of the house, whatever.</p>
<p>In any case, Gates is on record as saying he has NO issue with the neighbor having called the police.</p>
<p>And some thieves do, indeed, use suitcases!</p>
<p>NSM:</p>
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<p>I can’t find the picture at the Washington Post at the moment, but I thought Gates had glasses on in the arrest photo. If he needs them for distance, they are likely (though of course not necessarily) bifocals.</p>
<p>“BCEagle, not necessarily. You don’t know when the neighbor saw something. (Neither do I.) She might have only seen them trying to force the door. You don’t know whether she saw the car drive up, Gates walk around the back of the house, whatever.”</p>
<p>Either the police report or an article indicated that she was watching the house like a hawk.</p>
<p>“I can’t find the picture at the Washington Post at the moment, but I thought Gates had glasses on in the arrest photo. If he needs them for distance, they are likely (though of course not necessarily) bifocals.”</p>
<p>I have a set of distance glasses that I leave in the car, a set at my desk at home and my reading glasses that I keep in my backpack when traveling and at my desk in the office or at home. I need my reading glasses to read anything small or medium-sized. If I don’t have them handy, I sometimes ask someone else to read something to me. I have considered getting bifocals but I’ve heard reports of dizzyness and there is the awkwardness issue of tilting your head the right way.</p>