Black Harvard professor arrested at his own house

[Gertch]

You may say that you meant nothing by the edit, however it doesn't mean that we'll buy it.

I didn't ask you to buy anything. But test drive it yourself. Quote someone and take everything out between the quote tags and post. If you need something else PM me instead of derailing the thread.

 

[Teelie]

Oh I'm sorry, I have to come in and bang on endlessly in debate with you over a political view that has little to do with the topic? You tried to drag politics into it and then I just ignored it. You seem to be really dogged about attacking another's opinion for merely being different to yours.

As I recall you said that Obama was talking out of his ass and related it to his politics which have nothing to do with this. You did not need to bring that in, nor did you even back up the claim. I'm sure if I wanted to spend hours building a case, I can do the same thing about Bush or any other president of your choosing but I have a life outside of arguing over who is right when nothing will change.

 

[Captain Ice]

.

It's that simple, Gertch.

[snip]

A lot of us also do this.

You've been around for quite a long while. I'm surprised you don't remember either.

 

[pookha]

Is racism alive in the police? Certainly is it is round here, and I doubt the US is much better.

Is this an example of it? I don't think so.

A woman saw someone breaking into a house and called the police. That's not racism, it's neighbourliness. I doubt she would have looked the other way had the breaker-in been a different race.

The police responded by sending someone round - that's not racism, that's good policing.

The officer found someone in the house, and asked him to step outside - that's standard procedure: and officer won't enter the house unless s/he has to.

The someone refused (failing to co-operate with the police).

The officer asked 'what are you doing here?' a fairly mild question to someone recently seen breaking into the property - what do you think the officer was thinking? Do you routinely enter your home by knocking the door down?

Th someone responded that it was 'my goddamned house' - not exactly polite. (But not criminal)

The officer, quite reasonably, asked to see ID... and it was while showing it that the homeowner decided that the officer was being overly official and racist. At that point he began demanding name and number (which the cop should have supplied) and ranting. And ended up getting nicked for ranting at an officer.

So... if the neighbour had not called we could have a thread on how no-one ever gets involved these day. If the police had failed to turn out we could have a thread about the failures of modern policing. If they'd failed to intervene, check the man's ID etc, we could even have had a thread about how the racist police fail to protect someone's home because he was black.

You know, next time there's a break-in reported there, I wonder if the police will drive around the block a few times on their way there. Or better still, meet up with a burgler and let him go because he has some quick answer for what he's doing there.

The police were doing a job. The homeowner apparently failed to see that breaking into a home looks suspicious, or that the police were actually trying to protect his own property. I worry about the standard of Harvard professors.

the above is the officers version of what happened.

gates version is different..

The police and Professor Gates offered differing accounts of what happened after officers arrived. Professor Gates said that he had shown photo identification to Sergeant Crowley but that the sergeant had appeared not to believe that he lived there. Frustrated, Professor Gates said, he asked for the name and badge number of Sergeant Crowley, who, he said, refused to give them.

frankly from stuff i heard through the years.. both in the media and things that happened to people i have known either version could be true or as i said earlier the truth is some place in between.

also gates prior life experiences can also be playing a role in this.
for a long time in america if a black male was in an expensive car they stood the risk of getting stopped by a cop with the attitude of there is no way some one like you could have legally bought this car.

overall things have gotten better but there are still instances of it happening.

it is possible something ment with the best of intentions such as an attmpt to
find out say if gates was just renting and owning may have been taken the wrong way by gates.. who not only could be influenced by previous life experiences but may not have been in the best of moods considering he
just had gotten home from a trip to china and found out he
couldnt get into his home.

we just dont know yet really what did happen though there are some things
coming out the does put the policeman in more favorable light.

this
especially gives more food for thought..

The white police sergeant accused of racial profiling after he arrested renowned black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home was handpicked by a black police commissioner to teach recruits about avoiding racial profiling.

For five of the past six years, Crowley has also volunteered alongside a black colleague in teaching 60 cadets per year about how to avoid targeting suspects merely because of their race and how to respond to an array of scenarios they might encounter on the beat.

Thomas Fleming, director of the Lowell Police Academy, said Crowley was asked by former Cambridge Police Commissioner Ronnie Watson, who is black, to be an instructor.

on what the president said..
it came out that gates is a friend of the president and as even
officer crowley noted..

the sergeant said: "I guess a friend of mine would support my position, too."

and now the president has called officer crowley an

"outstanding police officer and a good man."

"I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately ... gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sgt. Crowley specifically," the President said.

 

[Goliath]

In addition, I think it's worth noting that even in his initial statement, President Obama was discussing "the post, not the poster"-- to put it in TrekBBS terms.

He said the police "acted stupidly." That's not a personal reflection on anyone. Even smart people do stupid things sometimes. And only stupid people think they never make mistakes.

What's more, given the furore that has developed over this incident, I think it's clear that the President was correct. As the saying goes, the police officer's actions were worse than a crime--they were a blunder.

With every passing day, I become more and more convinced that, for once, my initial impression of this incident was the correct one.

 

[Gertch]

As I recall you said that Obama was talking out of his ass and related it to his politics which have nothing to do with this.

Yes, it was related because he mentioned the subject of this thread. He even admitted he was talking out of his ass when the said he didn't know all the facts. So why have a reporter from his home town ask him this question? And why not simply say that Gates was a friend of his and didn't want to comment further.

So perhaps posing the question instead of just a drive-by we could have just resolved this sooner.

You've been around for quite a long while. I'm surprised you don't remember either.

I usually use the snip myself.

He said the police "acted stupidly." That's not a personal reflection on anyone.

Not a personal reflection? But the 'police acted stupidly.' Which police? Obviously the policeman there.

What's more, given the furore that has developed over this incident, I think it's clear that the President was correct. As the saying goes, the police officer's actions were worse than a crime--they were a blunder.

No he wasn't correct as evidenced by a multitude of officers (of both races involved) interviewed. Most of them say they would have done the same thing given the information from the police report and eye witness accounts.

As time goes on I'm more and more convinced that the President had the question asked so he could divert attention from congress and his ailing 'healthcare' bill. On that he was successful as we can see nonstop coverage on the 'racial' incident.