Professor Skip Gates arrested in front of his own home; claims racism from Cambridge police

Great Debates
101

You’re right; in my initial posting, for whatever reason I confused his house with that of another prof off of Mt. Auburn St, headed west to Watertown, past the Longfellow House. I had a friend who lived in probably the same apartment you’re mentioning on Ware St, especially if it’s Harvard housing. I also lived on Mass Ave & Plympton St - we had an automatically locking door and my bike was still stolen from inside. My bad.

Fair enough. But consider this:

Harvard Magazine is the alumni magazine, which typically highlights the work and research of the faculty in each issue. Maybe she’s bad with faces, etc. But she’s probably more familiar with the faculty roster than most Cantabrigians.

102

I only read the first page of the OP (I really wish the OP had taken the time to actually explain the events before launching into the internal debate) and this is probably a complete drive-by, but what the hell:

Both men appear to be A+ assholes. Race may or may not have played a part, certainly the Professor has a chip on his shoulder. The Cop might be a a racist and might have given him attitude which indicated that, but in my experience its infinitely more likely that the cop is just a power mad asshole who gets off on pushing people around of all colors.

Of course it’s the cop who needs to be the one exhibiting common sense and restraint. He has the gun, the power and the duty to keep things calm. He needs to accept that his accusations will be taken badly on occasion, and if those accusations turn out to be unwarranted he eats his words and walks away. Period.

As a middle class white male, if a cop is on my property asking for my ID I’ll tell him to fuck off if he doesn’t immediately give me a very good explanation. If he sees my ID and continues acting in a domineering fashion I’ll let him have it with both barrels. Police have gotten dramatically out of hand and people who think everyone should kowtow to them just to make life simple are frightening in their shortsightedness and willingness to be abused.

103

The buildings across the street from Gates’s house were Harvard housing a LONG time ago, but none of them are Harvard anymore. Some are condos, some are HUD housing, one is a Verizon building…

104

Maybe everything she saw was from across the street, and maybe from behind.

105

I’m a middle class white male also. I have been asked for ID on my own property. I had just moved into an apartment in Georgia, most of my stuff was still in boxes, and after midnight (when my lights were on and I was still up) there was a knock at the door. When I opened it there were two cops standing there and one asked “Are you Tommy Richards?” [I’m not sure what the real name was other than it wasn’t mine]. I told them ‘no’, I’m Jon “Sampiro”, whereupon they asked me for I.D…
My ID had my real name but, as mentioned, I’d just moved, so the address was a different city. They asked if I had anything that showed me as a resident at this address. I told them that my lease was there somewhere but “as you can see, I just moved in and everything’s in boxes”. Give me a moment and I’ll try to find it. One of them asked “Do you know Tommy Richards?” and I responded honestly “No I don’t, never heard of him. If he’s the person who lived here before then the apartment office may have his forwarding info.” One asked “Do you mind if we come in and look around?”
Now this was intrusive, true. And I knew I had the right to say ‘No, you can’t come in’. I also knew if I said this I’d be viewed very suspiciously, and also I had nothing in the apartment to be worried about (no drugs, nothing illegal, guns were boxed up and I’m in legal possession of them and there’s no warrant anyway, etc.), so I said “Sure, help yourself. Would you like a Coke or some instant coffee?” One of them actually took a cup of instant coffee.
Anyway, I couldn’t find my lease but I gave them the after hours apartment number and the name/number of the apartment office. They left- no apology or anything but not rude- and I never saw them again. Apparently they were convinced I was who I said I was and that I didn’t know ‘Tommy Richards’.

This is hardly worthy of an episode of LAW & ORDER or even COPS: AMERICUS GEORGIA, but it happened. I don’t remember the race or races of the cops. They were no-nonsense but they were also respectful enough (didn’t go through boxes or anything, just walked through the apartment and the big walk-in closet and the like). I understood that they were doing their job and that they’d be really piss poor cops if they just took my word that I wasn’t Tommy Richards and didn’t know him. (I will say I think all the boxes helped my ‘alibi’ along with the fact it was a completely accurate alibi.)

I was polite, they were professional (the closest to friendly is that IIRC one commented on my collection of Indian arrows that had been unpacked) and that was it. However, and I’m not saying that Dr. Gates did this because I don’t know, I can almost guarantee you that if I’d responded by saying “No I’m not going to show you I.D.” and “Hell no you can’t come inside”, best case scenario is they’d have been there a lot longer, and it’s not inconceivable I’d have been arrested.

Again I think the policeman was WAY over the line when he arrested Dr. Gates and should be disciplined for it. I also think that Obama was extremeply impolitic in saying they acted stupidly when unprofessionably or questionably would have been far better words (though if Bush were president the response would more likely have been “Who?”). But I also think from what facts I know and what seems most likely that had Dr. Gates had been friendlier and more cooperative it would never have made the news and he wouldn’t have gotten arrested; it wouldn’t castrate him to understand this cop is not only just doing his job but that it’s a very high stress job and he gets crap all day long and as a human he has a temper.

106

And while it’s true that 60 year old men with canes don’t routinely go around burgling houses by the front door in front of witnesses in the middle of the afternoon, it still LOOKED suspicious. There have definitely been people burgled mid-day by people in moving trucks- happened here in the city where I live, and was a fairly frequent occurrence when I lived in college towns. And as I mentioned in this or another thread- it could have been a domestic situation with an estranged husband/boyfriend breaking in to a place where the locks had been changed, or somebody who was angry at the resident of the place and wanted inside to wait on them, or a lot of other weird scenarios. In any case, Gates himself has expressed his appreciation for the woman calling the cops, and I think it’s utter hypocrisy how many people on talk shows and other places seem to think the woman should have recognized him when in fact I doubt 1 in 3 Americans knows everyone who lives on their block.

107

If more people expressed their rights simply for the sake of it this type of thing wouldn’t appear suspicious. You have a moral obligation to do so in my mind. Now, that doesn’t mean you should ever be rude or pissy with the cops (or anyone for that matter) but even if you are the cops should just take it. Police are human, they have emotions, but the powers they are given require them to be held to a much higher standard. If a cop arrests a guy because he loses his temper that cop should have his badge pulled and he should be facing criminal charges. That’s a dangerous abuse and has led to people getting shot and killed and otherwise hurt.

108

I’ve read most of the comments in this thread, but not all. If someone else has already posted this, please forgive me.

Several news outlets are reporting that Sgt. James Crowley (the responding and arresting officer) was a member of the Brandeis PD when Reggie Lewis, an NBA player who was practicing the the school gym, suffered a fatal heart attack. Lewis, among his many other attributes, happened to have African ancestry and black skin. Sgt. Crowley is also a trained EMT and peformed CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Lewis in an effort to save his life. This act is hardly consistent with a racism against blacks.

Officer Crowly also has taught a number of classes on racial and cultural sensitivity and on how police can avoid racial profiling. Crowley has the respect and support of black police in the Boston area. Furthermore the black officer on scene at Professor Gates’ house supports Crowley’s arrest.

As a fellow with a Ph.D., I find it incumbent on the person with the most education and experience to keep his head. Based on statements by Crowley, other police on scene, and from dispatch tapes, Professor Gates appears not to have done that, but rather continued to pursue Officer Crowley and hurl abuse at him while he was in the process of leaving Professor Gates’ home.

I have read many accounts and in none of the credible ones does Sgt. Crowley come across as an arrogant hot-headed cop. If you want to see one of those types in action, Google for the story/video of the Oklahoma State Trooper who assaulted an EMT who was trying to do his job.

Professor Gates wasn’t arrested for disrespecting a cop. He wasn’t arrested for being black. He wasn’t arrested for being an asshole. Professor Gates violated a Cambridge statute related to ensuring orderly conduct in public.

Yes, it was a judgement call by the officers present on scene. Yes, I don’t like the idea of people being arrested on their own front porch. Yes, racial profiling happens.

Just as racial profiling is a cancer on our justice system, false accusations of racist behavior by police are just as cancerous. My opinion is that Professor Gates was in the wrong and should apologize.

109

Obama has called Sgt. Crowley.

110

The guy might not be a racist. In fact, he’s probably not. That said, he can still be wrong. Be an asshole. And be an abusive cop.

EPIC horseshit! It’s incumbent on the person with the authority and power to keep his head. It’s on the person who a public SERVANT to keep his head. It’s incumbent on the person tasked whith carrying a WEAPON to keep his head. As a Ph.D you should know better.

You’ll have a tough time convincing anyone of that when “public” is defined as the guys front porch. The charges were dropped because they were patently absurd. He was arrested because the cop was butthurt and felt his authority wasn’t respected.

111

Wow.

I mean, super wow. This makes me reel like Fred Sanford having an attack of angina. Am I reading this right?

To me, it’s obvious that if anyone is required to keep their head, it will always be the one person in the equation who is paid to walk around with a gun, uphold the constitution, and live up to the oath they he took before she/he was given a badge. This is like as simple as simple gets.

All a PhD is required to do is successfully defend a dissertation, if that.

I think some of yall are so caught up in defending this cop as being a non-racist, that you’re defending shit that needs not be defended, and looking like fools in the process. How far is the defense of this man going to go? Making assumptions about his character because he gave an NBA superstar CPR one day makes as much sense as making assumptions about Gates’ character because he has a PhD.

112

This is the damage that years and years of pervasive, systemic and institutional racism has caused, a damage that can’t really be undone. There are a million cases where racism has been a driving factor but that can never be proved. There are just as many cases where racism is not a factor, but again, no one can quantify that.

113

I disagree, obviously. Forgive me, but in my humble opinion, a Harvard professor should have judgement and maturity. Heck, any educated adult should have judgement and maturity.

Had Professor Gates responded like a rational human being, thanked the officer for checking on his home, agreed that his actions in unsticking the door could have looked suspicious, shown some ID, the incident would have been over in less than five minutes.

I take it you haven’t read the police report and are not familiar with the civic code in Cambridge?

Yep.

The evidence I’ve read and heard in this particular case indicates that Sgt. Crowley did just that. Can you provide any citations to the contrary?

There’s a bit of coursework and original research invovled as well.

And I think some of you are so busy jerking your knees based on incidents where the police were racist pigs that you don’t have the enery left to apply your brainpower to looking at the particulars of this case. Show me one person other than Skip Gates who was there that afternoon and who says that Sgt. Crowley abused his power as a public servant.

114

He arrested a man in his own home because he was called a racist. This is clearly abuse of power. Where in the Cambridge code does it forbid name calling and what statute allows cops to arrest people for criticizing them.

I can’t fathom how any American could not be concerned about this precedent.
Here’s a good article which makes the same points I do.

115

Checking in real late.

This same situation happened to me in the early nineties. (Locked out of the house, I shimmied in through an open window, and a couple cops showed up about a half-hour later.)

Yes, they asked to see some ID and this seemed reasonable to me. I showed them my ID and some addressed mail to prove that it was my home. Then they left. Thank you very much.

It’s true that I’m a white boy, but I think that the marked difference in the way that these two cases resolved had less to do with race than with the fact that in the latter case, both actors were ignorant pricks.

116

From that article:

I voted for Obama. I like Obama. I respect Obama’s intelligence and abilities. This, however, is a matter for Dr. Phil or Oprah or Anderson Cooper, not the President of the United States.

Oh crap. Someone’s going to get arrested for public intoxication. (I hope it’s not Obama.)

117

Most of the people in this thread and it’s twin brothers have said that they don’t think or know whether the cop is racist. But you know what? That still doesn’t preclude him from handling things the wrong way. You seem to be arguing that he’s not racist and therefore, did not abuse his power. The latter does not follow from the former.

118

From my original post:

I can understand why the arrest happened even though I don’t like the idea of a person being arrested from his front porch for being upset. That said, I don’t think the arrest was an abuse of power. Not because I don’t think that Crowley’s a racist, but because I think Professor Gates refused to behave like a rational human being.

119

Several of the accounts I’ve read indicate that witnesses saw Professor Gates follow Sgt. Crowley as he was trying to leave. Professor Gates contined to make a scene. The author of the article you linked had this to say: “…Gates should have used common sense and curbed his own emotions…”

That’s been one of my points in this thread. Professor Gates could have avoided the arrest if he had stopped yelling at Sgt. Crowley when Sgt. Crowley was making his exit.

I’m on record in this thread that I don’t like the idea that an American was arrested on his own front porch. I do, however, understand why the arrest happened, do not believe that it was racially motivated, and don’t think the cop was being an arrogant hothead when he arrested Professor Gates, and I don’t think that this sets a precedent. Had Professor Gates been perfectly civil and also been arrested, ***then ***I’d be worried.

120

Cops should not arrest people unless they commit crimes. Was Gates being a hot head, probably, was that a threat to the public or the officer, no. Arresting a guy in his own home because he yelled at you is fucking beyond the pale.

Could Gates have avoided this…of course. However that’s neither here nor there. Gates could have avoided the situation if he’d just not forgotten his damn key, but that didn’t happen. The question is not if Gates acted reasonably unless there’s some law that lists being unreasonable in your own home as a crime.

Do you not realize that being a jerk is NOT A CRIME!?! It’s far too common for cops in this country to “arrest for effect”. It must stop and cops that do it should be punished very severely.