Black Harvard Prof Arrested

Off Topic Politics and World Issues
21

[quote]tedro wrote:
Perhaps “President” (Just for you gambit) Obama should have read this before opening his big narcissistic mouth…the actual police report.

JULY 23–Here are the police reports detailing the confrontation last week between Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Cambridge cops, who were condemned last night by President Barack Obama for acting “stupidly” in arresting the African-American scholar. Cops responded to Gates’s house after neighbor Lucia Whalen reported spotting “two black males with backpacks” trying to gain entry to the home (Gates, returning home from a trip overseas, and his driver were contending with a stuck front door). The Cambridge Police Department reports, authored by Sergeant James Crowley and Officer James Figueroa, quote an incensed Gates yelling, “This is what happens to black men in America!,” and, when asked by Crowley to speak with him outside the residence, Gates replied, “ya, I’ll speak with your mama outside.” A disorderly conduct rap was filed against Gates, but quickly dropped by prosecutors. Gates is reportedly considering legal action against the Cambridge police. (3 pages)

See the link for the complete report.[/quote]

The hilarious thing is that Crowley is doublesupernotracist. He even has a black friend or two, like G_L:

Or maybe, just maybe, the racial sensitivity class Crowley taught was a means of hiding his secret racism.

I’d prefer if the President weighed in on the mob of black youth that beat up a family in Akron on the 4th of July:
http://www.ohio.com/news/50172282.html

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[quote]MaximusB wrote:
JD430 wrote:
Uncle Gabby wrote:
PB-Crawl wrote:

we should be free to yell and scream at any government authority figure without risk of arrest, we pay their salary, we are the boss.

We are their boss, and we do pay their salary, but everything else in that statement is fucking stupid.

Thank you.

First off, officers should give you their name and badge number if you ask. I have never hesitated when I had some big mouth egomaniac screaming for it. What do I care if he knows my name? Trust me, I won’t be intimidated by that nonsense. That is because I treat people with respect as much as I can and study my job very thoroughly.

Nearly every uniformed officer in the country wears name tags anyway. The only exception may be plainclothes guys. Every time a cop is dispatched somewhere a computerized record is kept of it. If you feel you have been wronged, just call the jurisdiction and ask for the officer’s information. There are also other avenues to identify a cop if you feel it is necessary to report his actions.

It is true to say that the police are employed by the public and society at large is our “boss”. Technically, the military is also employed by us too, but I haven’t ordered any airstrikes lately.

This does not mean any individual person is our “boss”. When I was employed in other jobs, my boss had ultimate authority over me. If he said “stop” I had to stop, if he said “go” I had to go. Many court cases have addressed and settled this issue. The police exist to serve the goal of securing and maintaining order in society AT LARGE. That is a very important distinction. You, or me for that matter, have absolutely no individual control over an officer’s actions so you can stop with the “boss” bullshit.

The term is completely incorrect if you have any understanding of its meaning. It is more appropriate to say that you have the right to monitor police actions and be heard when you want to report the resulting consequences of those actions. That is completely proper in a (relatively) free and open society.When you don’t have that right, like in North Korea or Russia, then you are in a police state. Until then, stop distorting the facts and bitching about a “police state”. Many of you whiners have no idea what that is.

Lastly, this is my take on this case from what little information is out there. It kind of sounds like the professor was being an agitator and maybe even purposely trying to bait the officer into making a mistake. That is where he was wrong(total speculation of course). The officer was wrong in falling for it and probably losing emotional control which resulted in him misusing his arrest power. The ability to restrain someone’s liberty is very powerful and should be treated with extreme respect by people entrusted with that power. For the most part, you have a right to be an idiot, especially in your home.

PS - The president should mind his own business. This has nothing to do with him. Doesn’t he have his hands full completely wrecking the country and turning it into a socialist nightmare?

Great post.

One thing people need to take into consideration, is that police officers are taught to take control of the situation. They are the law. I am not saying it’s right or wrong, but during their training, that is the mantra by which they are conditioned. So keep that in mind when you have some interaction with police.
[/quote]

In Germany and Austria they are taught that there is no excuse for losing it on your job.

None.

23

[quote]tedro wrote:
Perhaps “President” (Just for you gambit) Obama [/quote]

Cheers!

24

[quote]PRCalDude wrote:

I’d prefer if the President weighed in on the mob of black youth that beat up a family in Akron on the 4th of July:
http://www.ohio.com/news/50172282.html
[/quote]

That’s called ‘wilding’, not behaving ‘stupidly’, so he’d never mention that.

25

Cambridge police are upping the ante. They are releasing the 911 tapes. Hopefully from dispatch to arrest.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20090724911_police_tapes_key_in_gates_case_officials_mull_release_of_recorded_evidence/srvc=home&position=0

26

It shouldnâ??t have mattered that he was black, but on the other hand, it shouldnâ??t have mattered that he was a professor. I get the impression from most of the people, including Obama, that are crying racial profiling seem to think the fact that he was a professor is important. It is just as wrong for a cop to take your station in life into account as it is your race.

The bottom line is that if he was belligerent and refusing to identify himself at the scene of a break-in, he deserved to be arrested. If he was co-operative with reasonable requests, he didnâ??t deserve it. Hopefully the 911 tapes will shed some light on it.

But to me, it seems like the people doing the profiling are the ones defending him by mentioning the class of people he belongs to (academics).

27

[quote]Big_Boss wrote:
<<< And I do agree about Obama’s comments. I’m sure he was pressured by someone(or his own “blackness”…yea,I said it) to comment on this…which was a mistake. >>>[/quote]

Indeed, but he wasn’t pressured by anybody. It was his assumption of the worst of white cops who in his view were more likely to be shaking down a black guy than just trying to do their jobs. Once again, another situation having nothing to do with race, NOTHING, until somebody forced it to.

In the same statement he says he doesn’t know the particulars, but the cops acted stupidly and proceeds to enunciate his views on the particulars he just said he doesn’t have and all that for an incident that was absolutely none of his business.

Here is the correct answer. [quote]I’m sure the very fine Cambridge police department and the very fine Professor Gates can resolve this incident in a much more judicious manner without the interjection of federal officials who have neither jurisdiction nor possession of all the facts[/quote]

Frankly his response was petty and sophomoric coming from the President of the United States who one would think has much more weighty issues to grapple with at the moment. It is indicative of his entire mindset which is the driving force behind behind his agenda as a whole. He thinks it’s his responsibility to right all the wrongs the United States has been guilty of. I’m tellin ya, this was more than an off the cuff remark.

28

One point that seems to me to be missed is that some take it to be “racist” that the individuals the neighbor thought were intruders (but actually the homeowner unable to open his front door and a person with him) were identified as “two black males with backpacks.”

Oh how racist! Why, if the report had been two white males or two Asian males or two Hispanic males with backpacks, the police would never have investigated because everything obviously would have been okay!

Ah, no.

The dispatcher wants the officers to have whatever basic description there is of the persons suspected of the possibly illegal act being committed. That way if they show up and there are two, for example, Asian males in the front yard sans backpacks, they won’t be figuring it’s the same persons the neighbor reported.

But to those looking to find racism, all they need to know apparently is that “black” was included in the description.

Do we need a law against including “black” or “African-American” or anything suggesting it in police descriptions?

29

[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
<<< Do we need a law against including “black” or “African-American” or anything suggesting it in police descriptions?[/quote]

Wait a minute, I thought Barack Obama was the post racial president. One day, long after it’s too late, it may dawn on people that liberalism is the truly racist ideology in this country.

Why can’t it just be:

Cops: We received a call about a break in at this address.

Gates: No sir, I live here and was having trouble with the door. Here is my ID.

Cops: OK, fair enough, if you could just step out here for a moment so we can ask you a few questions, fill out this report and be on our way.

Gates: Why certainly, been a long day, but I’m grateful to have such conscientious neighbors and responsive police.

5 minutes later everybody is back to their lives.

But no. Gates has to erupt into this tirade about black men in America and somebody’s mama. Maybe the cops overreacted after that, maybe not I don’t know. Here’s a tip. Black men commit an astronomically disproportionate number of the serious crimes in this country, especially in urban centers. I’ve said it before, polling in the Detroit area for instance reveals that BLACK citizens are more likely to be suspicious of other blacks than white people they encounter in the wild. Why? Because they have eyes.

None of this means that black people are genetically more criminally inclined regardless how hard some of them work to disprove that fact. That is another discussion. The point is Gates was wrong on 2 counts.

  1. It IS reasonable for police of any color to be more suspicious of black men. It’s just pain illogical to deny that.

  2. In this particular instance even that reasonable assumption played absolutely no part in the actions of these officers.

30

I have within my own experiences with the law, seen what happens when you pop off to law enforcement. If you make their lives hard, they will certainly make your life hard. Yes we are all entitled to our freedom of speech, but a police officer can make his dealing of the situation easy or difficult for you as well. If he wants to take his sweet ass time going about investigating or questioning, he will. He may or may not want to detain you for questioning, or other reasons. But one thing I know is, listen to law officers when they tell you something. If you are cool with cops, more times than not, they are cool with you. If you act shady, they will assume it is because you have reason to be shady. Everybody try to keep cool, and it’s all water off a duck’s back.

31

[quote]MaximusB wrote:
I have within my own experiences with the law, seen what happens when you pop off to law enforcement. If you make their lives hard, they will certainly make your life hard. Yes we are all entitled to our freedom of speech, but a police officer can make his dealing of the situation easy or difficult for you as well. If he wants to take his sweet ass time going about investigating or questioning, he will. He may or may not want to detain you for questioning, or other reasons. But one thing I know is, listen to law officers when they tell you something. If you are cool with cops, more times than not, they are cool with you. If you act shady, they will assume it is because you have reason to be shady. Everybody try to keep cool, and it’s all water off a duck’s back.

[/quote]

Yes, you are correct. But in this case we have an Afro-American studies Professor who’s whole life is about studying and lecturing on racial injustice, so he sees and hears everything with that mindset. He assumes anyone white with authority is out to get him.

We also saw during the press conference Obamas roots on display. The News conference showed him to be droning and flat. The only time he perked up was this race question, and we saw the real Obama…Comminutiy Organizer and Acorn lawyer spring into action. He did so well at campaigning for 2 years (while not doing his freshaman Senate job) that he was the non race issue black man and did not touch the subject. He was dying on the podium on Wednesday night, and he grasped at the learinings of his life in his last response, and he made a grave mistake in doing so.

The only time the Prez was passionate during that conference was the race question response. Here comes the “Social Justice” aspect of his presidency.

32

After reading the police report on the smokinggun.com and finding out a little bit more about the backgrounds of the people involved, I am definitely leaning toward Gates being the sole instigator of this whole situation.

The sergeant’s police report is very well written(I have seen a lot of reports authored by dummies that make no sense whatsoever) and includes all of the required elements for a disorderly conduct arrest. The professor’s behavior outside his home in view of the public(I wonder if there were witnesses) is what doomed him.

Personally, I probably would have just left the asshole ranting on his front steps and drove away. I have done that before and I didn’t see anything in the report that would indicate that he absolutely needed to be arrested for some public safety reason.

Of course, that is where an officer’s discretion comes in…the sergeant was perfectly within the law and policy to pursue that option. The real screw up seems to be on the part of the cowardly police administrators and prosecutors who got scared of this big mouth with his political connections and promptly dropped the case. If the sergeant was willing to get on the stand and testify under oath to everything in the police report, Gates would have been found guilty in a heartbeat. His only defense would be to try and prove the cop lied.

The sergeant’s background as a police academy instructor in diversity and counter-racial profiling makes this all the more interesting and makes his position 100 times more defensible, which is everything in law enforcement. Hell, the director of the academy, who is black for what it is worth, came out and said the man is an outstanding representative of the profession.

A part of me hopes this little bullshit dust-up continues to grow bigger and the whole country gets to see the gory details of the all-too-common false, concerted attacks we have faced for decades from the militant socialist left.

And to Orion,

I was only speculating that the sergeant lost his temper. In fact, I don’t really think that happened now after seeing more evidence.

Please stop giving us your take on American law enforcement based on what you THINK law enforcement is in Austria or Germany(you have no real experience on the inside of the business over there do you? Correct me if that is wrong.) I suspect that all of the cops in Austria wouldn’t know how to handle just one medium-sized American city. The comparisons are absurd and totally irrelevant.

33

When I was 18 I was arrested for disorderly conduct for much less arguing with a cop than that.

34

Gates is a race baiting arrogant prick. He should have to face this cop in a cage.

35

Mass. police unions ask Obama for apology:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j4S-r9G0m8HEq4JAFUw7_epFRb9QD99KU5H00

This isn’t going away anytime soon.

36

[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
When I was 18 I was arrested for disorderly conduct for much less arguing with a cop than that.[/quote]

For some reason, I imagine you won this argument, and perhaps THAT is what caused the arrest. No cop wants to be undone, especially by an 18 year old. When I was 21, I got a traffic ticket which I disputed in court. I got the officer to admit he had limited knowledge of what happened, and won my case. Afterwards outside the courtroom, the officer confronted me and talked shit to me because I won. I just smiled and said have a nice day.

37

[quote]Valor wrote:
Gates is a race baiting arrogant prick. He should have to face this cop in a cage.[/quote]

I’m sure the Sargent really wants to do that. I can see it now, wild Black racist vs. trained Sargent in urban defense and defusing of situations. This is a rare instance I wish a cop would beat someone.

38

[quote]MaximusB wrote:
Bill Roberts wrote:
When I was 18 I was arrested for disorderly conduct for much less arguing with a cop than that.

For some reason, I imagine you won this argument, and perhaps THAT is what caused the arrest. No cop wants to be undone, especially by an 18 year old. When I was 21, I got a traffic ticket which I disputed in court. I got the officer to admit he had limited knowledge of what happened, and won my case. Afterwards outside the courtroom, the officer confronted me and talked shit to me because I won. I just smiled and said have a nice day. [/quote]

Just say no, I do not know how many times I have gotten out of speeding tickets because I just did not answer anything and ask for proof in the court room.

39

[quote]MaximusB wrote:
Bill Roberts wrote:
When I was 18 I was arrested for disorderly conduct for much less arguing with a cop than that.

For some reason, I imagine you won this argument, and perhaps THAT is what caused the arrest. No cop wants to be undone, especially by an 18 year old. When I was 21, I got a traffic ticket which I disputed in court. I got the officer to admit he had limited knowledge of what happened, and won my case. Afterwards outside the courtroom, the officer confronted me and talked shit to me because I won. I just smiled and said have a nice day. [/quote]

Well, I expect the cop did personally realize that what he was doing (to another person, not me) was pretty low on the scale, but the manner that I did it, making a scene as he was ticketing the unfortunate driver who went through a broken stoplight that had essentially zero yellow, was not the right thing to do. Poor judgment, or near zero judgment, and stupidity of youth. The city had recently been putting cops out there at that spot and ticketing people all day I expect precisely because they knew the light was broken and therefore there was an endless supply of “violators.” And it was convenient, as it was a turn and at low speed, so they just had a cop standing there and waving drivers to stop to be ticketed, one after another basically as fast as tickets could be written, rather than having to use the police car.

(Then-mayor Koch had just started his Quality of Life Crimes program, which meant pulling police off of serious crime having victims, and putting them onto things relevant to Quality of Life, such as traffic enforcement. Seriously.)

What bugged me in particular was that aside from all that, the man being ticketed was this elderly gentleman, rather small and frail looking, who had that appearance of being dressed the very best that he could, in a suit, but it being obviously rather cheap and quite old, and he had a downcast and burdened look to him, so it seemed likely to me that he really did not have the money for this and so this man being picked on, especially when the cop knew the traffic light was not operating properly, ticked me off.

40

Obama has spoken yet again, to the affect that both involved are good men - still refuses to apoligies for his “stupidity” comment.

Gates is the racist in this case, a prick, calling for a spot light. If you take a look at the report the officer’s actions were justified and to my knowledge Gates isn’t denying anything from the report, just rambling on about race.