<p>Sums it up quite nicely for me (a white, middle-aged, middle class, law-abiding Southern lady.) The question is not whether Gates got verbally abusive IN HIS OWN HOME, (I would have under the same circumstances), the question is how the police officer handled it. Practically every interview of a law enforcement officer that I read or heard after the Gates situation said that once Gates produced ID that he was in his own home (and thus there was NO crime) the officer should have left NO MATTER what Gates was saying.</p>
<p>"Female officers were involved in excessive force lawsuits at rates substantially below their male counterparts, and no female officers were named as defendants in cases of police officer involved sexual assault, sexual abuse, molestation, and domestic violence. Of the $66.3 million in judgments or out-of-court settlements paid out by the City of Los Angeles for which the gender of the officer(s) could be determined, $63.4 million (or 95.8%) was attributable to male officers’ misconduct. In contrast, $2.8 million (or 4.2%) of total payouts were attributable to female officers’ misconduct.</p>
<p>· Although the overall ratio of male to female police officers and sergeants serving in a patrol capacity from 1990-1999 was 4:1,2 payouts on cases involving male officers’ misconduct exceeded payouts on cases involving female officers by a ratio of 23:1. The numbers of male officers involved in or at the scene of an incident exceeded the numbers of female officers involved by a ratio of more than 9:1.</p>
<p>· Male police officers disproportionately accounted for the excessive force lawsuit payouts involving killings and assault and battery: male officer payouts for killings exceeded female officer payouts by a ratio of 43:1 and male officer payouts exceeded female officer payouts for assault and battery by a ratio of 32:1.</p>
<p>· Often in cases where female officers were present at the scene of an excessive force incident, it appears they were not directly involved in the use of excessive force. Of the 27 female officers involved in or at the scene of an excessive force incident, only 15 were alleged to be directly involved in the use of excessive force. Moreover, not one female police officer was named in more than one lawsuit, while some male officers were defendants in more than one case, evidencing a pattern of use of excessive force among these male officers…"
[National</a> Center For Women and Policing](<a href=“http://www.womenandpolicing.org/ExcessiveForce.asp?id=4516]National”>http://www.womenandpolicing.org/ExcessiveForce.asp?id=4516)</p>
<p>"</p>
<p>Dylan is also 68, Gates a decade younger."</p>
<p>And Gates is disabled – walks with a cane due to a club foot. Dylan was dressed in a hoodie. Gates was dressed as the preppy he basically is.</p>
<p>I think women police officers are less likely to buy into the “macho” idea that being aggressive is “cool” and that it should be the first way to handle a problem (as opposed to the last way.) </p>
<p>I don’t think this is because of a deficit in the male psyche, but because of the way (many) boys are taught that empathy and compassion are for weaklings and “wusses.” Maybe not outright, but when boys are teased by peers if they shed the slightest tear at a movie . . . while women are “allowed” to weep into their tissues . . . then the message is definitely there.</p>
<p>Stop trying to make excuses about why Dylan’s arrest went more smoothly- obviously it was because Dylan didn’t start acting crazy, while Gates did.</p>
<p>I’m thinking if either your child or my child were as obnoxious to a police ooficer as Prof. Gates was, we both would have had to make a trip to the local police station to pick them up.<br>
Simple facts of the two cases: Case 1 – Gates initially exasperated his situation by losing his cool and acting like a jerk. The arresting officer exasperated the situation further by losing his cool in reaction to the Professor’s obnoxious attitude. Everyone walked away with an embarrassing national media story and a debate on race that went all the way to the President. Case 2 – Mr. Dylan remained polite and cooperative with the officer, the officer responded in kind. Everyone walked away with a funny national media story, without a need for Presidential intervention. </p>
<p>Again, I understand Prof. Gates had a long and hard trip, only to find out he was locked out his own home. Heck, I would be just as tired and just as frustrated. Add to that, the cops show up. A cherry for the top of my Cr@ppy Day Sundae! I may even let my frustrations get the better of me, and take out those frustrations on said officer. I would also expect to be led away in handcuffs if I took it to levels Prof. Gates took it to. </p>
<p>Perhaps Bob Dylan thought the same. Or perhaps he was thinking “Keep cool, and hope she doesn’t search my pockets!” :)</p>
<p>Again I wasn’t at either incident-
from my point of view
I can see why someone questioned in their own home would get beligerent- but that doesn’t negate the fact that they did become beligerent.
The cane would be not relevant, because often unscrupulous people do use props for criminal purposes although the clothing should have given the officer a small clue that he was telling the truth.</p>
<p>If anyone involved in the altercation had been female/or calmer, I don’t expect it would have escalated, but when you have two men who both think they are right and are stubborn- you have a problem.
I think it must be hormonal- if they were beta fish, they would have fought till the death</p>
<p>The Dylan incident didn’t escalate from my point of view because Dylan didn’t become aggressive but allowed the officer to have the authority.</p>
<p>( perhaps he would have become aggressive if he was having trouble getting into his own home- I don’t know- but also since the officer was female- you don’t have the competitive piece as well as the perspective of being almost 70 makes most people a little mellower)</p>
<p>And maybe, Gates was trying to make a point and stick up for the majority of African Americans who DONT have jobs that they could make a point like this. I say kudos to him. </p>
<p>I do agree that Prof Gates’ behavior was not exactly stellar. However, the policeman bears a FAR GREATER responsibility for the ensuing disaster. He is the professional on matters like this. His professional training definitely includes how-to’s in situation like this, and he let his gut reaction and emotion get the better of him. </p>
<p>Suppose there was a rude customer in the store. Granted, s/he should not have been. However, if sales clerk matched the rudeness of the customer and did one better (or worser in this matter) and got into a huge conflict that put all the unpleasant spot light in the local news on your store, what would you do as a store owner? Would you give the clerk a pass? Or, as a store owner, would you make sure that the clerk never behaves this way. Next time, when you hire another clerk, you would definitely look for an ability to handle situations like this better, wouldn’t you?</p>
<p>The bar is HIGHER for the policeman, since it’s his job to handle situations like this more professionally.</p>
<p>My kid got pulled over for speeding, but he got away with a gentle admonition - no ticket. I have no doubt that his ethnicity, the attire, and the kind of a car he was driving definitely helped him. I absolutely have no doubt that blacks and latinos are not treated as whites and Asians.</p>
<p>Being obnoxious is not a crime, even if it is being obnoxious to the police. It may not be prudent, but it is not a crime. It is not grounds for handcuffing someone and taking him to the police station.</p>
<p>Crowley had no legitimate reason for handcuffing Gates and taking Gates to prison. By then, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Gates was the owner of the house. He had no reason to claim that he was told by Lucia Whalen that there was a suspicious-looking African-American male who was probably breaking and entering. The tape clearly gives the lie to his report. </p>
<p>Morale: the young policewoman acted maturely; Crowley, the much older cop, acted reprehensibly. What Dylan and Gates did or did not do should have little bearing on how we judge the two cops’s actions.</p>
<p>I won’t disagree that officers should be more professional- however I have been treated badly in my own home by the police & I was the victim.
( I am white and the officers were white and black)
I don’t think it was an issue of race, but because we seem to have hotheads going into the force that sign up not to help people, but because they like being " the man". They are jerks because they think they can get away with it & they do.</p>
<p>Being obnoxious is not a crime, even if it is being obnoxious to the police. It may not be prudent, but it is not a crime. It is not grounds for handcuffing someone and taking him to the police station.</p>
<hr>
<p>this is an excellent point. Regardless of whether Gates should have behaved more maturely or not FOR HIS OWN GOOD, blaming Gates for Cowley’s behavior reminds me of the “good old days” when people blamed women for wearing short skirts when there was an issue of sexual violence.</p>
<p>Professor Gates is not a child. He is an adult, on the faculty at Harvard and this all took place at his home. </p>
<p>Home is a sacred space for most people. It’s where you can stop being so aware, all the time, that you are black, a woman, gay, or whatever it is about you that is not male and white. </p>
<p>I had a professor from Nigeria who told us that he did not “know” he was black until the arrived in the United States. He said his whole life he had woken up, looked in the mirror and saw himself. After less than a year in the United States, that was gone. </p>
<p>Just the idea, the very idea that what happened to Professor Gates is being compared to Bob Dylan is making me more and more angry. He never should have been arrested. It was wrong. And I’m so damn tired of hearing the excuses. As if it reasonable, as if Professor Gates should just accept that he has something to learn from a white man with no ID in a town he does not live in while Professor Gates produced ID in his own home.</p>
<p>You are flat out wrong (in the context of Gate’s behavior). In most criminal justice academies they teach how riots against police start. One of the ways is when police are arresting someone and a crowd develops to watch. Someone in the crowd starts taunting the police and the rest join in. Or the persons being arrested start taunting the crowd and the crowd goes after the police. If the police don’t get the defendants or the crowd under control quickly, the result is their safety and the safety of others is in jeopardy. Crowd can develop in an instant. Crowd anger can develop in an instant. When Gates was yelling at police in front a crowd, he was posing a danger to the police and he was appropriate to arrest him.</p>
<p>The better question is why would someone who teaches at Harvard not be bright enough to figure out that you don’t yell at police while a mere singer peeping in windows can figure that out?</p>
<p>As to the sanctity of the home, you are 100% correct. And the police responded to a call that there was suspicious activity at his home, and went there to protect that sanctity. Even Professor Gates admitted as much, after he had his beer with the POTUS.</p>
<p>No. Gates acted obnoxiously. Crowley trampled on the Constitution.
Crowley also filed a lying statement. There is a huge difference between the two.
Gates was not inciting a riot. Gates was in his own home.</p>