Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s Arrest

Today even after all the facts were laid bare by the President on national television, who concluded that the police "acted stupidly," the officer who arrested Henry Louis Gates is defending his actions, proving beyond all doubt that he is simply too stupid to be a police officer.

I don't know how foolish you have to be to arrest a homeowner for forcing his way into his own home, but Officer Jim Crowley seems determined to provide us with those insights. What a Bozo.

Whenever the government determine someone can't see well enough to safely operate an automobile, it takes away that person's license to drive. Whenever it determines someone is a danger to themselves or others, it puts them in protective custody. I think the government should be able to fire police officers who turn out to be too damn stupid to be in a position of authority.

Yesterday, this was only a disgrace. Today it's an outrage. Somebody fire this moron.

Let's do a little role playing. You're a police officer. You see a guy jacking around with the door on a house. The homeowner would have a key, you'd think, yes? So you approach the guy to see what he's doing. For your trouble, you get yelled at and called a racist (these details are not in dispute, mind you). Who was it that brought race into the discussion in the first place again?

Who's the idiot again? And, much like the officer in question, I'm curious why the President, who knows next to nothing about the incident, feels the need to comment on it. Simply because it involves a black guy? *That's* racist.

If some cop hassles me, is the President going to get involved on my behalf? Fuck no, because I'm a straight white male. So why should Barack stick his nose into this one?

Fourteen minutes! What took ya so long, dte?

dteowner said:

Let's do a little role playing. You're a police officer. You see a guy jacking around with the door on a house. The homeowner would have a key, you'd think, yes? So you approach the guy to see what he's doing. For your trouble, you get yelled at and called a racist (these details are not in dispute, mind you). Who was it that brought race into the discussion in the first place again?

Click to expand...

It may not have occurred to you that it could have been the homeowner, but I'm pretty sure it would have occurred to me. But more to the point, why didn't it occur to the police officer? Aren't they trained? Shouldn't we expect them to be competent?

The man provided an ID, one that listed that address as his place of residence! So what if he got a little angry? So you arrest him? For what? Getting a little angry?

Is it asking too much for a police officer not to arrest our best and brightest on bogus charges just because they don't happen to like the guy they arrested? Is it asking too much for the police officer to realize his mistake afterward and apologize?

I like the good guys too, dte, but not to the point that I'm willing to overlook what is clearly outrageous.

dteowner said:

Who's the idiot again? And, much like the officer in question, I'm curious why the President, who knows next to nothing about the incident, feels the need to comment on it. Simply because it involves a black guy? *That's* racist

Click to expand...

Obama defended Gates while admitting that he may be "a little biased" because the professor is his friend.

Click to expand...

So it wasn't because the professor was black, it was because the professor was a friend of the President.

Übereil

Squeek said:

It may not have occurred to you that it could have been the homeowner, but I'm pretty sure it would have occurred to me. But more to the point, why didn't it occur to the police officer? Aren't they trained? Shouldn't we expect them to be competent?

The man provided an ID, one that listed that address as his place of residence! So what if he got a little angry? So you arrest him? For what? Getting a little angry?

Click to expand...

The timeline makes a bit of a difference here. Gates had already rolled out the race card and gotten belligerent before he ever presented ID. Did he deserve to be arrested? Wasn't there, so I couldn't say for sure, but a guy that opens a conversation with misplaced racial BS was probably making a real ass of himself. Dollars to doughnuts somewhere in the conversation, Gates challenged the cop to arrest him.

What about the racial bias of his neighbour?

dteowner said:

The timeline makes a bit of a difference here. Gates had already rolled out the race card and gotten belligerent before he ever presented ID. Did he deserve to be arrested? Wasn't there, so I couldn't say for sure, but a guy that opens a conversation with misplaced racial BS was probably making a real ass of himself. Dollars to doughnuts somewhere in the conversation, Gates challenged the cop to arrest him.

Click to expand...

So what if he did challenge him to arrest him? So what if he complained that he was being mistreated because he was black? Aren't cops supposed to be able to deal with that intelligently? Hell, my mother could deal with that intelligently.

Where I grew up kids were bussed into school from Compton, and anyone who's ever heard of Compton knows that's the place to go if you ever want to find out about "black attitude." I recognize the picture you're painting, but I'll tell you right now, that's bullshit. It ain't that hard to deal with "the race card."

That door swings both ways, btw. Once I had a summer job as a roofer and was part of a crew doing a re-roof on a project in Compton. It was about 105 that day, and no one had air conditioning, so everyone was standing around outside, trying to stay cool. Just then a black guy ran through, from one end of the complex to the other as fast as he could. About three minutes later a big white cop came strolling through, flipping his baton. Walking in the middle of the crowd of about 200 black folks, he spotted us up on the roof (all white guys) and called up, "Hey, did any of you guys see a nigger run through here?"

Did it ever occur to you that Gates probably sized up the situation correctly? But just being right isn't good enough sometimes is it?

Squeek said:

proving beyond all doubt that he is simply too stupid to be a police officer.

Click to expand...

No such thing. Also:
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_56314.html

I think plenty of mistakes were made in this case, but one thing I didn't see mentioned, in addition to calling the cop a racist, he made expletive laden insults towards the officers' Mother. I have zero sympathy for the professor, because in my experience, insulting a police officer usually has negative results.

Calling a cop a racist and insulting his 'momma' will pretty much land you in jail any time, regardless of skin color.

Sir Markus said:

I think plenty of mistakes were made in this case, but one thing I didn't see mentioned, in addition to calling the cop a racist, he made expletive laden insults towards the officers' Mother. I have zero sympathy for the professor, because in my experience, insulting a police officer usually has negative results.

Calling a cop a racist and insulting his 'momma' will pretty much land you in jail any time, regardless of skin color.

Click to expand...

Insulting a police officer is not a crime.

Squeek,

Either you wrote your original post before hearing all the facts, or you have a blatant disregard for what police have to go through on a daily basis.

Just how in the hell would the officer know whether or not it was Gate's house without asking for ID? Also, Gates didn't just get a "little" angry, he immediately began yelling and carrying on about racism when there was absolutely no indication that his race had anything to do with it.

You also might want to do a little more research about who you're talking about before calling someone a "bozo".

Here's a little more info about Sgt. James Crowley.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-07-23-cop-gates_N.htm?csp=34

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The white police sergeant accused of racial profiling after he arrested renowned black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his home was hand-picked by a black police commissioner to teach recruits about avoiding racial profiling.

Friends and fellow officers — black and white — say Sgt. James Crowley is a principled cop and family man who is being unfairly described as racist.

"If people are looking for a guy who's abusive or arrogant, they got the wrong guy," said Andy Meyer, of Natick, who has vacationed with Crowley, coached youth sports with him and is his teammate on a men's softball team. "This is not a racist, rogue cop. This is a fine, upstanding man. And if every cop in the world were like him, it would be a better place."

Click to expand...

falafel said:

Insulting a police officer is not a crime.

Click to expand...

I never said it was a crime; all I said is that as a general rule, it will get you in trouble more often than not.

JDR13 said:

Squeek,

Either you wrote your original post before hearing all the facts, or you have a blatant disregard for what police have to go through on a daily basis.

Just how in the hell would the officer know whether or not it was Gate's house without asking for ID?

Click to expand...

I would welcome any and all facts you might feel are pertinent. Which ones do you mean?

Your question regarding ID seems to imply that I have an objection to it, and I don't. I'm certain you have a point worth considering, so please help me understand what you mean, and I'll be happy to answer you.

I like to think I realize as well as everyone else the things police are forced to go through on a daily basis. But whenever I stop to consider the difficult challenges they face, conversing with scholarly gentlement doesn't spring to mind.

In this instance my gut is telling me to give the benefit of the doubt to the smart well-respected and honored Harvard University professor who is friends with the President.

falafel said:

Insulting a police officer is not a crime.

Click to expand...

I don't think a cop should have to put up with a raft of shit just because they put on a badge. As more details come out, it's pretty clear our "gentleman professor" was a complete jackass. How long would you put up with that sort of treatment?

Squeek said:

In this instance my gut is telling me to give the benefit of the doubt to the smart well-respected and honored Harvard University professor who is friends with the President.

Click to expand...

Well *my* gut is telling me to give the benefit of the doubt to the 11 year police veteran who was "hand-picked" by a black police commissioner, and has multiple references, both white and black, coming forward to his defense.


As far as the incident itself, I don't think I could state it better than dteowner just did, he hit the nail right on the head.

JDR13 said:

Well *my* gut is telling me to give the benefit of the doubt to the 11 year police veteran who was "hand-picked" by a black police commissioner, and has multiple references, both white and black, coming forward to his defense. .

Click to expand...

Yep. I'm glad the officer refuses to apologize. It sounds like he has a lot of support in his community and among fellow police officers. I'm sure this story hasn't run its course, but false accusations of racism need to be exposed, and my feeling is that's the case here.

JDR13 said:

As far as the incident itself, I don't think I could state it better than dteowner just did, he hit the nail right on the head.

Click to expand...

+1

I don't care if you're white, black, brown or purple. You don't go all Jerry Springer on a cop who is just doing his job. If I was breaking down my door and a cop came and questioned me then I would think that he is doing his job and do as he said. You're breaking down a door. How often do people do that who own the house?

What I found surprising from this article is that the neighbor didn't recognize him. How long had he been living there? She had to of seen him at least once.

Sir Markus said:

I never said it was a crime; all I said is that as a general rule, it will get you in trouble more often than not.

Click to expand...

Really?

Sir Markus said:

Calling a cop a racist and insulting his 'momma' will pretty much land you in jail any time, regardless of skin color.

Click to expand...

I don't care whether the cop and/or professor he had to deal with was out of line, neither one of them did anything worth mentioning really, so I dont cut either one any slack. Dealing with *ahem* uppity people comes with being a police officer, receiving some verbal abuse from a man in his own front yard doesn't give him any extra reason to arrest him. Other side goes without saying, cop doing his job, racism not an issue here, and imho the good professor is likely a hypocrite.

dteowner said:

I don't think a cop should have to put up with a raft of shit just because they put on a badge. As more details come out, it's pretty clear our "gentleman professor" was a complete jackass. How long would you put up with that sort of treatment?

Click to expand...

I agree that he did nothing worth being treated like he did. To clarify, I am not saying the police officer in this incident was being unprofessional, but I do disagree with what Sir Markus said about a police officer having the right to send someone to jail for hurting their feelings.

skavenhorde said:

What I found surprising from this article is that the neighbor didn't recognize him. How long had he been living there? She had to of seen him at least once.

Click to expand...

She may have "forgotten" who he was just to get him back for being a pain to live next to.

falafel said:

Really?
Dealing with *ahem* uppity people comes with being a police officer, receiving some verbal abuse from a man in his own front yard doesn't give him any extra reason to arrest him.

Click to expand...

Yes, it does give him a reason to. You don't think that out of the thousands of laws out there that there isn't one that could be applied to verbally abusing an officer of the law. Disorderly Conduct is a great law that gets any jerk put in jail. It won't stick in court of course, but it does give the officer every right to arrest that man right then and there.

I don't give a rats behind who this professor is, if you do that to a police officer then you go to jail, period. Have some respect for the badge at least. Hell, in my wilder days I knew a few cops and I respected them. They treated me a little better because I did. I even flipped my car once. I was making a u turn and misjudged how close the sand on the shoulder was. Desert roads are a pain. Anyways I was moving and thought I got all my stuff off the side of the road, but a few days later one of the officers showed up at my door and had a few of my miniatures that I had missed.

My point is is treat people the way you want to be treated. Especially cops, they literally have to deal with the fact that they might not ever come home again because some idiot blew them away.