In the case of this cop I'd say that they are supposed to be professionals. Even if I believed every word of his police report I think the guy should be fired or at least "reassigned." Let's say Gates had a major hissy fit calling the cop racist. He was standing on his property in his own home. He has a first amendment right to speak his mind AND since he was doing it on his own property it's a stretch to say he was inciting violence.Here are some salient facts. The house was Gates' house. From what I understand, no one disputes that prior to his arrest and while in the house, Gates provided proof that the house was his. When you have those facts and the guy whose house it is ends up getting arrested, I think that's prima facie evidence of bad police work.
We certainly can't know it was racism. And perhaps there are extraordinary facts that would show the arrest was proper -- that all the escalation came from Gates, was unwarranted and left the officer no choice but to arrest him. But I think the assumption has to be that the officer mishandled the situation. Because we hire the police to protect us from burglars breaking into our homes, not to arrest us in our own homes if we get a little miffed at being mistaken for burglars. Police are trained to prevent situations like that from escalating. They're professionals.
This is a cop on a power trip. He needs to become a rent-a-cop. We expect them to be on power trips.
Gates was the provocateur and deserves what he got - he called Officer James Crowley a racist instead of producing identification as requested.
ReplyDeleteObama is equally in the wrong for commenting on this. In the press conference he reported the officer "acted stupidly" after admitting he was only vaguely aware of the situation. I’m presuming he thought the matter was black and white?
ReplyDeleteIn a lot of these cases the police are given a lot of discretion. In IA Disorderly Conduct (that which Gates was charged with in the police report) includes:
ReplyDelete"Makes load and raucous noise in the vicinity of any residence...which causes unreasonable distress to the occupants thereof." (ICA 723.4(2))
It could be different in MA but is likely to be similar. Thus when Gates followed the officer outside and his yelling "drew the attention of both the police officers and the citizens, who appeared surprised and alarmed by Gates's outburst." This could suffice.
That said I think the police officer could have abated the situation by leaving and the arrest was inappropriate.
3 Weeks tell the Fair!
There's really no decent resolution to this because it's a "he said, he said" situation. Most likely both sides are partially right and partially wrong. But there are a couple of things that stick out for me.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I was raised to respect the law. If a peace officer is in your area, you show him/her respect for doing a job most of us wouldn't have the balls to do. Yelling insults at an officer or being argumentative, no matter who is right or wrong, is never the way to behave. Tell me one situation where that will turn out good for anyone. There are other ways to get a point across besides acting like a damn fool.
Secondly, there is a segment of the population that has this nasty tendency to cry wolf every time something doesn't go his or her way. I didn't get a promotion so it must be because I'm a woman. I got stopped by the police because I'm black. I didn't receive good service at the store because I'm a Muslim. I'm not saying these things don't happen, but don't blame sex, race or religion for every bad thing that happens. Maybe I didn't get the promotion because I wasn't qualified. Maybe I got a stopped by the police because I ran a red light. Maybe the store never gives good service. It's not always about discrimination.
I'm very disappointed that the president chose to comment on a subject he admitted prejudice in (that Gates was his friend) and that he had little knowledge of the full situation. And then to decree the police "acted stupidly"? Nice of him to undermine our police like that. Shall we go back to that low-flying jet over Manhattan again?
I didn't realize his name was James Crowley... I wonder if he ever goes by the informal version of his name... The name has nothing to do with it though. Just an interesting observation.
ReplyDeleteIf I was James, I might have immediately thought I was being discriminated against. I agree that the police officer probably didn't handle the situation very well if Gates continued to get louder and louder. That's generally a sign that a person feels threatened.
However, I agree whole heartedly with Denise that you're probably wrong to argue with a cop. Debate or talk to, yes, but not continually yell. A Harvard professor isn't having a civil debate about the facts here?! But I guess if you feel threatened for one reason or another, you're probably not thinking about your voice raising at an officer. Something doesn't add up here...
My question is that there were other witnesses. Where were their testimonies?! This is a person's job at stake - I'd think it would be important to have those individuals go on the record.
My solution - make both attend mediation and talk things out. Not only would they learn something from it, but I think America could learn something from it - like quit jumping to conclusions (that includes El Presidente!)
Yes, Gates created the disturbance and initially refused to show identification. And, no, Obama did not say the officer acted stupidly. I believe he said it was handled stupidly. In any event, it was wrong of Obama to comment if for no other reason than he and and Gates are friends, and Obama could not be objective.
ReplyDeleteFrom all reports I have read, Gates did behave in an unbecoming manner for a man of his stature and reputation, and immediately accused the officer of racism and racial profiling. Clearly he was upset (and allegedly not feeling well), but to claim racism and then continue shouting and yelling at the police officer was just wrong. He certainly has enough experience and intelligence to realize that calmness would have been a far more intelligent way to go.
Having read both sides of the story, I agree there may have been fault on both sides but my feeling is there appears to be more fault on the side of Prof. Gates and, for that, I am saddened. I think Officer Crowley was doing his job as he was taught to do it and to have just walked away would have been wrong on HIS part.
Oops. I should have known to restrict anonymous comments on this post. What pussies.
ReplyDeleteSteve, you've wone one million US dollars. Contact me to claim your prize.
ReplyDeleteObama's remarks were obviously misdirected but made it worse yet by suggesting somehow this case should remind us of a history of racial abuse by law enforcement.
ReplyDelete