Obama vs. Cambridge police

[ColdWizard]

Not sure if anyone can answer this:

I wonder if it is known who made the call about a Burglar probability?

The reason is if it were a neighbor, surely they would know who Gates is?

One possible thing to look at, just a possibility, what if this was a setup?


Like someone Gates knows call an anonymous tip in stating that Gates house was being burglarized.

The Police show up, and Gates gets some free airtime, front and center Showtime Primetime to spew potential racially motivated propoganda?

Maybe not, but maybe a small possibility?

Gramps

1. Yes.
2. Not necessarily. I don't know most of my neighbors from spit, except possibly some of their cars.
3. Could be?
4. Not anonymous.
5. Seems plausible.

[Tuberski]

Nobody thought of this movie? First thing I thought of:

Amos & Andrew Nicolas Cage Samuel Jackson E. Max Frye | Movie Trailers

ACK!

[Dr Strangelove]

It does sound like Gates was pretty paranoid about the situation, the first thing he did when he knew a cop was at his door was to pick up his cell phone and try to reach someone who could order the cops to stand down. Of course you have to remember that he teaches a course about the mistreatment of blacks. I think that if I were the cop and Gates had accused me of being racist after I informed him that I was there to investigate a possible break in I would have reminded him that the police didn't initiate the report, so would he prefer it if the police did not investigate reports of possible breakins at black peoples homes?

[Jon Miller]

A lot of african americans think that police officers are just out to get them.

I think that racism is still a problem in the US. But this attitude is also a problem in the US.

JM

[DaShi]

In Gates case, I actually think that he was looking to start a scene.

[Felch]

Ummmm....police officers aren't required to identify themselves. Also, their distinctive uniform and mode of transportation should serve as plenty of identification. When YOU are the burglary suspect, it does not behoove you to act like a jackass, especially when your neighbor - who I'm sure the cops reasonably expect to know who you are - was the one who called them on you.

Massachusetts does require police to provide identification when requested. Few other states do, so generally you'd be correct. Also, my recollection is that the officer arrived in an unmarked car.

You're right that he was wrong to be a jackass. You're wrong if you think that the cop is blameless. In the end, Gates raised his voice, and the cop held him on a bogus charge for several hours. If you think that's fair, then you've got a twisted sense of proportion.

[David Floyd]

First off, I didn't know MA had that law. With that said, given that there is no serious discussion about disciplinary actions against the officer, it's probably reasonable to assume that MA law wasn't violated - had it been, we wouldn't be discussing whether or not the officer overreacted, but whether he broke the law.

As for the arrest being out of proportion, no I don't necessarily think that it was. If nothing else, people need to understand that when the police are called, and a crime is reported, they have a duty to investigate. When they investigate, if the subject of their investigation is verbally abusive for no good reason - and Gates had no good reason, as I suspect that if he had shown VALID ID showing his address in the first place, the confrontation would have ended - then that person fully deserves to take an attitude adjustment trip downtown, and if the officer has to lure him into yelling at him outside rather than inside the residence, I don't really have a problem with that.

Police officers are, by and large, just out to do their job the best they can. They aren't out to oppress anyone, or give anyone any ****, but keep in mind that they are people, too, and if people give them an unreasonable amount of ****, they are likely to react to it just as any of us would. The reverse is also true - if treated with courtesy and respect, it's been my experience that officers tend to be courteous and respectful in return.

Case in point - a year ago I was riding home from downtown Austin at 2:30 am with a friend. We were both ****faced - if anything, I was the drunker one. We got pulled over. My friend was immediately uncooperative and disrespectful, and so he went to jail - which was going to happen either way, since he was certainly driving under the influence. The police could very easily have taken me to jail, too, on a Public Intox charge. They didn't, because even though I was drunk, I apologized for my friend's behavior, answered the officer's questions, showed my ID when asked, and was as respectful as possible. In return, the officer stayed with me be the side of the road until a cab came to pick me up.

Now, we all know that Public Intox arrests are generally bull****, or at least often times bull****. Many, many police officers will tell you that. It's a catch-all charge that is used when a subject is giving an officer **** for no reason. If they were doing something REALLY wrong, they would be going to jail anyway. There are situations when that person charged w/ Public Intox is a true danger to himself and others, but in my situation that wasn't the case - there was no more danger in me standing on the side of the road drunk waiting for a cab than there was a danger in my standing there sober. The only 2 ways I was getting arrested on a Public Intox charge that night were a)if I was so drunk I couldn't stand up, or b)I was physically or verbally aggressive towards the officer.

However, even though I feel that many Public Intox charges are trumped up bull****, on the face of them, I don't have a problem with the police having arrest power in that situation, given the fact that the person needs a radical attitude adjustment, anyway. It's not exactly the same thing as what we're talking about, but it's the best personal example I can come up with right now.

[a.kitman]

i hate cops... but when i read the officers report and gates view i cant help but feel that gates need to be arrested. the officer is not a racist. the cop, in my opinion, overreacted and should just have walked away, but his not a racist.

edit: this is what happens when jackasses meet

[Tuberski]

The cop provided mouth to mouth rescucitation for a black man recently, and runs the diversity training for the police force in Massachusetts.

I think we can reasonably conclude that he's no more a racist then Gates.

The moral of the story is, don't be a jackass and you won't be arrested. Gates has a harvard degree, so I think he should be able to figure that one out.

By recently, you mean 1993. It was Reggie Lewis of the Boston Celtics, and he died.

My take on the whole thing is to people took an immediate dislike to each other, but only one of them had arrest powers.

ACK!

[The Mad Monk]

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - The white police sergeant criticized by President Barack Obama for arresting black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his Massachusetts home is a police academy expert on racial profiling.

Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley has taught a class on racial profiling for five years at the Lowell Police Academy after being hand-picked for the job by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black, said Academy Director Thomas Fleming.

"I have nothing but the highest respect for him as a police officer. He is very professional and he is a good role model for the young recruits in the police academy," Fleming told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The course, called "Racial Profiling," teaches about different cultures that officers could encounter in their community "and how you don't want to single people out because of their ethnic background or the culture they come from," Fleming said.

Obama has said the Cambridge officers "acted stupidly" in arresting Gates last week when they responded to his house after a woman reported a suspected break-in.

Crowley, 42, has maintained he did nothing wrong and has refused to apologize, as Gates has demanded.

Crowley responded to Gates' home near Harvard University last week to investigate a report of a burglary and demanded Gates show him identification. Police say Gates at first refused, flew into a rage and accused the officer of racism.

Gates was charged with disorderly conduct. The charge was dropped Tuesday.

Gates' supporters maintain his arrest was a case of racial profiling. Officers were called to the home by a woman who said she saw "two black males with backpacks" trying to break in the front door. Gates has said he arrived home from an overseas trip and the door was jammed.

Obama was asked about the arrest of Gates, who is his friend, at the end of a nationally televised news conference on health care Wednesday night.

"I think it's fair to say, No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry," Obama said. "No. 2, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And No. 3—what I think we know separate and apart from this incident—is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that's just a fact."

In radio interviews Thursday morning, Crowley maintained he followed procedure.

"I support the president of the United States 110 percent. I think he was way off base wading into a local issue without knowing all the facts as he himself stated before he made that comment," Crowley told WBZ-AM. "I guess a friend of mine would support my position, too."

Crowley did not immediately respond to messages left Thursday by the AP. The Cambridge police department scheduled a news conference for later Thursday.

Gates has said he was "outraged" by the arrest. He said the white officer walked into his home without his permission and only arrested him as the professor followed him to the porch, repeatedly demanding the sergeant's name and badge number because he was unhappy over his treatment.

"This isn't about me; this is about the vulnerability of black men in America," Gates said.

He said the incident made him realize how vulnerable poor people and minorities are "to capricious forces like a rogue policeman, and this man clearly was a rogue policeman."

The president said federal officials need to continue working with local law enforcement "to improve policing techniques so that we're eliminating potential bias."

Fellow officers, black and white, say Crowley is well-liked and respected on the force. Crowley was a campus police officer at Brandeis University in July 1993 when he administered CPR trying to save the life of former Boston Celtics player Reggie Lewis. Lewis, who was black, collapsed and died during an off-season workout.

Gov. Deval Patrick, who is black, said he was troubled and upset over the incident. Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons, who also is black, has said she spoke with Gates and apologized on behalf of the city, and a statement from the city called the July 16 incident "regrettable and unfortunate."

The mayor refused Thursday to comment on the president's remarks.

Police supporters charge that Gates, director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, was responsible for his own arrest by overreacting.

Black students and professors at Harvard have complained for years about racial profiling by Cambridge and campus police. Harvard commissioned an independent committee last year to examine the university's race relations after campus police confronted a young black man who was using tools to remove a bike lock. The man worked at Harvard and owned the bike.

___

Associated Press writer Melissa Trujillo in Boston contributed to this report.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D99KBEAO1&show_article=1

[DaShi]

When does the impeachment trial begin?

[Donegeal]

i hate cops...

Moron.

[a.kitman]

Moron.

dumbass

[DinoDoc]

Moron.

It's natural for hoodlums like a.kitman to hate the cops. Do you regularly get thank yous from criminals?

Seriously though, many people on the left hate cops until they actually need them.

[Sava]

I'm still waiting for someone to make an intelligent comment.

"you hate cops"
"you're a racist"

God you people suck