I didn't want to get into this but as President Obama (admittedly a friend of Skip Gates) just stated that the police acted stupidly and went on about racism in this country, I must say that there are a lot of people of all races that are ignorant of the experiences of the other. I think the police officer acted the same way police will always act towards anyone not complying and shouting abuse at them.

No one denies that everyone has their prejudices and there are hard-core racists even, if not more so among police. But the issue of race is only polarized when it is exaggerated in an incident like this. What about class prejudice that is rampant and unremarked in this country? If Skip Gates was not Prfessor Gates (regardless of his race) he'd probably still be in jail.How does this officer or his family feel when not only Professor Gates, but the press and even the POTUS is calling him racist who acted stupidly?

I did not read the police report till its end, but it clearly states that Gates was found in his own home, and while being a bit of a testy asshole, produced an identification, picture ID of a Harvard faculty.

Then policeman rather than being sorry for misunderstanding called Harvard police to verify, which to me was just an annoying manouver. Sometimes when a policeman cannot pin anything on you then he tries to waste your time. So I did not read how the policeman managed to bring Gates out of the house to make his behavior a PUBLIC nuisance that "startled two pedestrians" (horror!) but it seems to me that both sides went out of their way to annoy the other.

In my opinion, the professional behavior on the side of police would be to finish the investigation as soon as it was clear that no burglary is in progress.

Nevertheless, it would help if Gates learned that white and Indian professors can get annoying treatment from police as well. (Hikers follow a fence with KEEP OUT sign, a policeman comes, informs that entire area near the fence is closed to public, takes drivers licenses and faculty IDs, and then vanishes for 30 minutes to "verify".)

My final conclusion: certain important people, and certain police officers, occasionally exhibit behavior "do you know that I can screw you?". And in the example at hand, Gates was an asshole as a private citizen (who happened to be sick, tied, and in his own "castle"), while the policeman was an asshole "under the color of authority".

In particular, I see no beneficial general purpose policy that would advocate the arrest.

Advantage: Gates.

Gates was in his home. He was Constitutionally protected. Gates says he has no problem with his neighbor calling police. Gates' problem is with the police. The officer states that Gates "appeared to be" the owner of the home. The maintenance crew ID'ed Gates. Gates was on the phone asking someone to get in touch with the chief of police. Gates knew from a legal standoint that once he crossed the threshold of his home, that there was a possiblity that he could be arrested as a trespassing suspect and taken to jail. The police would have needed a warrant to drag him out of his home. Despite having the proper ID, Gates wound up being arrested, not for trespassing, but for disorderly conduct.

The truth of the tale is that many Whites can step back and take a "clinical" look at the picture and say that Gates should have behaved better , been appreciative, and just shut up. This is understandable. I cannot fully comprehend how deeply some Jewsish people may have felt about the attack on DC Holocaust Museum. The sexism directed at Hillary Clinton had to be pointed out to me. Try as we might, it is difficult to really put ourselves in the other person's shoes.

Whites are unaware that deopending on the community, you may be stopped because the car you are driving is too nice. You may be followed in stores. Taxis may pass you by. As I'm watching CNN's Black in America 2, a Black psychiatrist is talking about the fact that for many White American successful Blacks are virtually invisible. Successful Blacks do not fit the stereotype. You run into Whites who are condescending in their interaction with you
despite being wealthier and better educated then they are. The CNN special also tells the story of a wealthy Black student who was called a n-----r by one of his teachers at Haverford College. Privilege is no barrier to racism.

If you have a series of events occur over time, you much reach a point where you are just sick and tired of being sick and tired. Gates' reaction may have been a reflection of such a series of events. Blacks can relate. Many whites do not.

Most Blacks get understand Gates was coming from in his interaction with the police officer. Gates is home and just wanted to be left alone. Some Whites will pacify themselves by telling themselves that the same thing would have happened to a boisterous White person. Blacks will reflect on shootings of unarmed Blacks by police deparments and tell themselves and be skeptical.

At the end of the day, most Blacks will side with Gates and say despite what Gates said, he was in his home and the police should have just left. The hancuffing was to put Gates in his place. Many Whites will continue to say that Gates should have just just cooperated.

At the end of the day, few minds will be changed.
Two views of the same events.

As Earl Ofari Hutchinson says, some will never admit there is such a thing as racial profiling.

Oh Ready, your analysis is a nightmare.

It was 12:30 in the afternoon...and Gates could have stood on his porch and sang f-the police naked {ok maybe not f-the police and maybe not naked} or whatever. He was not a threat to anyone. Nor was peace being disturbed. {I've lived in that area} No riots were gonna break out on Ware street.

The sergeant arrested him on his own porch. The sergeant effed-up. I mention Sergeant because it was his job to handle the situation. He failed. I don't know why...but he did.

Here's my take on the officer's report:

The officer makes a factual misrepresentation in the first sentence. The incident happened in Gates' home and the arrest occurred on Gates' porch. There are pictures of him being taken off his porch in handcuffs. The officer represents that this happened in a public place, a requisite for an arrest on the trumped-up charge he decided to use as justification. Being in the view or within earshot of the public does not make private property public. The officer had to return to the citizen's land, and climb their stairs to make the arrest.

It's simple. An American on their own property can be boisterous, angry, insulting, demeaning, and insistent that another person leave or that they provide a badge number if they have physically entered a private home without a warrant. Once it was settled that this was the lawful resident of the private property and that the original call had been a misunderstanding and no crime had been committed, there was no longer probable cause. The only legal course of action would be for the officer to fully identify themselves by providing their state-issued officer ID number, ignore what he felt to be insults and leave the private property. By his own account, the officer never provided his state-issued ID number.

There was also no imperative to have an in-depth radio conversation with dispatch at that point. A simple "This situation is 10-22, in contact with resident. Will advise." would have been appropriate. It would be interesting to hear the dispatch tapes to see what exactly the officer felt was so important. Considering it was not possible for the events as described to unfold with the officer actually making radio calls, this is likely false reporting.

Any time I've asked for a badge number, the officer responded that if I wanted to make things difficult, I'd learn just how difficult they could really be. The badge # is a power trip. Usually the officer makes some bluster, takes the hint that you know your rights and backs off - but don't give the number (longhairs also get the business occasionally). While the officer uses the word "name" in the report, there were enough witnesses that I'd imagine Gates' assertion that he was demanding a badge number would be borne out - which would be another incident of questionable, if not flat out false, reporting.

So, according to his own account, the officer told an upset man demanding his badge number that he would speak to him outside; insisted that if Gates wanted further information that he must follow. The officer led Gates to a location where he felt he could take the upper hand, and told him to get back in his place. When Gates didn't, as would be predictable, the officer showed him his place - under arrest (ha! placed under arrest ... get it? oh, never mind).

What the officer did was conduct an ego-based false arrest (based on the smooth setup, unlikely his first). A security guard with 2 days training knows this. A cop simply doesn't care because there is rarely, if ever, repercussion for their actions. No matter how far outside their mandate they go, there is always some bonehead eager to lend a ready excuse in the victim's tone of voice, lack of deference, or "aggressive" demeanor. This time, there were repercussions.

Obama was right, the officer's decision to pick this fight was stupid; he already lost when Gates didn't take his "step out on the sidewalk" bait. Officers like this should be removed from the force. They place law abiding citizens at risk and cost the taxpayers lots of money.

The question if gates is a total schmuck or not (my take is yeah, he's a prick) is irrelevant. A professional officer would not have allowed the situation to escalate to an arrest. A professional would have provided a badge number and walked away to diffuse the situation; allowing a different officer to handle calming the upset citizen down if necessary. This arrest occurred because the officer wanted to punish someone who wouldn't shut up when told, not because of a legitimate crime.

Its doubtful that we will ever know the truth about what happened here. We can only guess. Its likely that both versions are incorrect. Its likely both a lying. Its unlikely that Gates was as polite as his version suggests. Its likely he was antagonistic. Its likely that he asked for Crowley's badge number which Crowley never mentions in his report. Its likely Crowley refused to give his badge number. Its likely that Crowley left that out of the report since it reflected badly on him.

It seems clear that Gates was cooperative enough that Crowley was able to determine that he was in fact a resident in his own house, that no crime had been committed. From Crowley's report, "I then asked Gates if he would like an officer to take possession of his house key to secure his front door."

Its likely that Crowley was in the process of leaving the scene having determined no crime had been committed. Its likely that Gates continued to insult him as he left. Its likely that being insulted in front of other cops and civilians was especially rankling.

Its likely that there was a pissing match with both feeling that the each disrespected each other. Its likely that both used whatever power they had to disrespect the other in response to the disrespect they felt they had received.

Was the disrespect racially motivated? Who knows. Cops want more than respect, they usually expect very submissive behavior. The cause could be that Gates was not just unsubmissive but antagonistic and there was no racial component. Its possible that Gates had a chip on his shoulder and started the antagonistic encounter.

Since the motivation of Crowley is impossible to determine the question for me is how friendly and submissive must an innocent person be when confronted by the police to avoid arrest. Is it illegal to be unfriendly to a cop? Is it illegal to insult a cop? Is it illegal to raise one's voice to a cop?

IMO there should be a fairly high standard to the charge of disorderly conduct. Cops have to deal with much more volatile situations than this one. For example domestic fights, bar fights, drunks. Defusing tense situations should be part of their skill set. They should be able to shrug off insults.

If Gates had been in an argument with a civilian its unlikely that he would have been arrested for disorderly conduct. A person can have a verbal argument with a neighbor, get angry, raise their voice, and insult them. People are not required to treat their neighbors with respect. By any account it doesn't appear to me that Gates' behavior raised to the point that had Crowley been a civilian another cop would have arrested Gates for disorderly conduct.

There's a disturbing trend that seems to have criminalized disrespect to cops, even criminalize a lack of sufficient submission. I and some of my friends have experienced it. You can see it in the many tapes of people being tasered. Its likely what caused the Busby situation. And its likely what caused the problem with Crowley. Cops shouldn't be able to use their power as a law enforcer to sooth their bruised ego.

..............Update 2: Via the Harvard Crimson - "Damaris J. Taylor '12, alumni and public relations chair for the Harvard Black Students Association, said that based on police reports, he personally didn't think the arrest was racially motivated and that "the officer was just doing his job." But he also said that while the professor may have overreacted or even acted rudely, the police should not have issued an arrest." Hey, someone I agree with. Perhaps views across "the racial divide" don't have to be irreconcilable as is sometimes claimed.
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As I note in a post above, the comment from the Crimson is an isolated response from one African-American. The bulk of the other responses from African-Americans tend to side with Professor Gates. To take this one comment and try to minimize the racial divide is disingenuous. There are gaps in how different ethnic groups view racial progress despite the election of Barack Obama. However, unintentional it can come across as insulting when you select out the "good one" out of a host of others. In fact there is a theme that has existed since slavery of the House Negro vs the Field Negro. The House Negro was the one who would tell the master about the escape plans of the Field Negroes. Your selection of the one Black chosen as breaking the racial divide brought the House-Field imagery to mind.

There have been advances in race relations but despite the increasingly positive perceptions, most blacks feel that discrimination lingers. Asked who has a better chance to get ahead in U.S. society, fifty-one percent of blacks said white people do. Forty-four percent said both races had equal opportunity, while just one percent said blacks had an advantage.

White people, by contrast, were far more likely to see a level playing field, with 62 percent saying both races had equal opportunity. Roughly one in four white said white people have a better chance to get ahead, while seven percent of whites said black people have the better opportunities.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/27/opinion/polls/main4972532.shtml

There are simply different perceptions of the same data. Blacks likely applaud Obama for his honest response to the Gates' situation because it reflects their experiences. Whites can recoil in horror because Obama's reaction does not reflect their concept of how law enforcement is viewed.

While Clarence Thomas may side with the actions of the Cambridge police, Obama is closer to the feelings of most blacks and spoke his mind.

Here is some more context for life in Boston/Cambridge
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Gates' supporters cite Boston's history as a city plagued by racism as an underlying reason why this could still happen to an esteemed scholar, at midday, in his own home.

"That stain on this city – as far as persons of color are concerned – is a real one," television and radio commentator Callie Crossley said.

She recalled the case of Charles Stuart, who caused a citywide manhunt in 1989, when he said a hooded black man shot him and his pregnant wife as they got into their car. The wife died, and Stuart eventually was labeled the killer, but not before a black man arrested on unrelated charges became the prime suspect.

Stuart committed suicide the next year by jumping off a bridge.

Perhaps nothing epitomizes Boston's struggle with race relations better than the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken during the uproar over forced busing of public school students in the 1970s. The photo shows a white man swinging a large pole with an American flag at a black man during a protest against the desegregation plan at City Hall.

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.

Michele Lamont, a sociology and African-American studies professor at Harvard, said she understood why Gates reacted angrily to the police officer in his home given that larger history of confrontations with police – as well as his own.

"Certainly when someone like Gates finds himself in this situation, he has in mind this baggage," Lamont said.

Crossley said many people criticizing Gates for overreacting or for losing his cool have never been profiled by authorities because of their race.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/22/james-crowley-policeman-w_n_243262.html
-----

Note that a committee on racial profiling was established at Harvard last year because of complains from students and professors.

...............So do you improve the situation of racial profiling by having educated professors rant on like crazy homeless street people

All I can say is wow. Sad commentary

Thank you for posting the link to the officer's report.
While the incident is unfortunate, it seems that the professor had an immediate agenda -- from before he even opened the door -- of making this a race issue. The degree to which he relies on the words "black" and "white" ad nauseum in his posts suggests that he is a man who is angry at the world and its social ills. While this may be legitimate, it doesn't mean he can act like an ass and not get arrested. Before being a "black" man, Gates is a citizen of a country that has rules and procedures, and whether he likes it or not, police have a wide berth to prevail with an arrest of "disorderly conduct" if they have the numbers of witnesses that they had during this event. Let's see what these witnesses say about Gates' behavior.

I am of two minds about this.

1. It's pretty clear that the Officer was just doing his job and Gates from the beginning was looking at this as racial profiling (rather than duh, someone saw him breaking into his house). Had Gates' house actually been broken into by strangers and no one called the police, the story would have been how no one cares that a black man's house got broken into.

I don't see even in Gates' statement any indication that the Officer was disrespectful (or acted in a racist manner) towards Gates or treated him differently than any other person in similar circumstances would have been treated.

The cop leaving the house was trying to deescalate the situation (it was pretty much over) and Professor Gates continued to call him racist and throw a hissy-fit. If you continue to go yelling your head off at the cops (white black yellow puerto rican or haitian), you'll get arrested. It's that simple. Gates was expecting SPECIAL treatment, not because of the color of his skin but because of who he was - an esteemed Professor from Harvard University. I still think the police office should have had the good sense to walk away from the situation and let Gates continue to be an ass in the privacy of his home. Usually cops are in a position of authority, but it is pretty clear that the person who really had the power, class and status was Gates. That cop and the Cambridge police just got scolded by Obama for doing their jobs because it impacted one of Obama's friends.

Maybe Professor Gates and Obama are in need of an introduction to real abuse of authority by police officers (and likely race was a factor).

2. I was stuck in traffic in the City yesterday and the cops were pulling over cars that were blocking the intersection. The pulled over 4 cars in front of me for tickets. 3 just pulled over, got their license and registration out, etc. One was a Bentley and this older white man opened the door got out and went storming over to the traffic cops. The cops politely told him to get back in the car and he did.

Regardless of status or power or how much money you have, a black person could not get away with that. In a best case scenario, would have been going home in handcuffs. Hey, I personally know folks who followed all the right rules in confrontations with police and still ended up shot for a basic Driving While Black traffic stop. So yes, race is a factor in the criminal justice system and there is certainly racial profiling that goes on. But Professor Gates is clueless if he thinks that he was a victim of racism or profiling in this instance.

The man was in HIS OWN HOME and the officer knew it!

But instead of apologizing for incoveniencing the home owner, this dumbass cop kept it up and arrested Prof. Gates. Had it been anyone else black but this Harvard Professor the cop would get away with it. But that isn't going to happen in this case thank God.

The level of arrogance and callous disregard Posing as wanting to evauluate the facts regarding this situaion which is on display by whites in the media and even on this site serves as an education about the depth and pervasiveness of racism in the United States. It is genuinely outrageous and very sad that so many white people are so unable to recognize blatant racism in such an instance.

America, we have a lot of work to do.

Gates, by his own account, was not arrested until after he had implied racism on Crowley's part and followed him onto the front porch to ask a FOURTH time for his name and badge. I don't believe race was the problem, just bad attitudes on both sides.

In January, I was maced and arrested in my own home and spent a night in jail. I had called the police to my apartment to take a missing person's report on my ex-wife, who was schizophrenic, pregnant and, I had learned from the homeless shelter where she was staying, had been locked out on a 15-degree bitter-cold night for missing curfew. The officer refused to take a report and in addition to directing me to the morgue to look for her, asked if my ex-wife was a whore. She is not and never has been. I told him to leave my own and as he did so, shouted over his shoulder "Don't ever call us again!" I muttered "I won't, you fucking asshole" and he re-entered my home. He instructed me three times to turn around and I refused each time, telling him to just leave. That's when I was maced. When I was released the next day, I learned my ex had spent the night in a storage unit. The city prosecutor later dropped trumped up charges of disturbing the peace and resisting arrest when I signed an agreement to not sue the city or department, which I could not afford anyway. (ACLU wouldn't even answer the phone).

So it seems to me that some cops are just assholes. Whether you're black or white, you aren't blue enough to treat with respect.

As Bob Dylan once sang, "You're right from your side; I'm right from mine." I can see how both sides in this incident could be positive that they acted entirely within their rights.
Here's what bugs me: After everyone knew Professor Gates had been arrested at his own home during the investigation of a crime that never occurred, why did I see his unflattering Cambridge Police Dept. mugshot on CNN?
Is it the department's standard protocol to release mugshots of every person they take into custody, regardless of the facts of the case?
It isn't necessarily racist, but it sure is a way to show Gates whom he's messing with, isn't it?