Absolute BS!

[OldSkool]

Chip on the shoulder manifesting in serious attitude and uncooperative demeanor, and likely some resistance. This is not wise. Law enforcement has a job to do, and a break in had been reported. Do as you are told and the situation de-escalates. Be a putz and escalation ensues. You can indeed be arrested for being a putz, even on your own property. Charges dropped, not for publicity, but when all said and done, the charges were not worth pursuing.

You read my mind Rich.

Ditto.

 

[KeninDC]

Side-by-side articles in today's Washington Post re: this incident.

One discusses the racial aspects of being a black man in a predominantly white town.

The other discusses the folly of yelling at police officers.


My experience:

I witnessed a friend call a cop a "Nazi" and he was escorted to the ground in rough fashion. Duh.

I was asked to hail a cab at night for a black colleague of mine in Washington, DC after we worked late on a filing and had to rush it to Fed-X right before midnight. We were both wearing suits, but cabs are more likely to stop for the white guy.

Ken

 

[similost]

I was asked to hail a cab at night for a black colleague of mine in Washington, DC after we worked late on a filing and had to rush it to Fed-X right before midnight. We were both wearing suits, but cabs are more likely to stop for the white guy.

Ken

...and when was the last time you saw a white guy driving a cab around here It's a funny world, and not as in laughter...

 

[Sam Cogley]

There's three sides to every story and we'll probably never know exactly what happened. Nonetheless, the police officer is a professional. He should be able to deal with a subject who is emotional and antagonistic without it escalating into an arrest. There is no suggestion that the professor threatened the officer. There's probably plenty of blame to go around in this case, but the bottom line is that the officer should have done everything in his power to defuse the situation. He's the expert, he's the one who's on the clock and his job description doesn't include arresting people for being disrespectful, especially in their own homes.

Edit: In response to the post about being arrested for being a putz... sure. It happens every day. And I know that when I'm dealing with the police I am on my best, most respectful behavior because I don't want to be arrested for being a putz. But it's really wrong. The police need to keep in check the understandable tendency to wield one's power when they feel disrespected. I know they put their lives on the line every day for all of us, but that does not give them any excuse to abuse their power because emotions get out of control.

This sums up my thoughts on the subject very well. I've known plenty of "cowboy" cops (and even whole departments) who were drunk on their own authority. On the flip side of the coin, being polite to the police is always a good plan.

 

[merrylander]

The guy had lived there for some time I gather, ergo his neighbors must have known he was black. So who was the neighbor who reported a black man trying tio break into a house?

 

[pustelniakr]

The guy had lived there for some time I gather, ergo his neighbors must have known he was black. So who was the neighbor who reported a black man trying tio break into a house?

The version I heard was that the call was made by a passing motorist.

When confronted by law enforcement, compliance with commands is not negotiable. Such begins with courteous instructions, firm if initial expectation is that one is dealing with someone caught in the commision of a crime. Failure to comply is a crime, to varying degrees depending on locale. The officer has one advantage: he had been trained and decided in advance, that he will be going home to his family at the end of the day. Actions to ensure that will be taken. When dealing with one person, the potential exists for there to be more, so the one you see must be put under control or identified, to provide freedom to deal with any more that may be lurking nearby. A potential purpetrator in an unknown house, that refuses to provide identification, is beligerent and non-compliant...such leads on-scene law enforcement to potential incorrect conclusions, which will be acted upon.

Rich P

 

[butch4695]

I would like to see the professor issue a statement as to what happened that day . He should be smart enough to see what kind of publicity this has created and what kind of backlash it could create and admit any fault if there was any on his part . The general public needs to know what really happened before they make any real judgements either way .

 

[screenersam]

The quickest way to make a bad situation worse is to cop an attitude with a policeman. If the statement the department released is true I have no sympathy for the "professor."

In fact, I would suggest to him that he would be much more at peace in most New Orleans neighborhoods, where the police take hours to respond to most calls (if they do at all) and the backlogs are "cleared" at shift change.

ditto.
whom do you trust more, a police officer or a college professor? hm...

 

[gonner]

be polite just cos hes got a badge and a gun!? how about just being polite? someone made the comment about being a "longhair" lmao, boy do i know what thats like here where i live the cops seem to consider everyone a dirtbag until proven innocent unless you are part of the good old boy club. case in point a local deputy in a speed boat, under the influence hits a sailboat. results in one death, guy in sailboat is charged with manslaughter, interview with sherrif states that all the evidence being reported is, uhm, incorrect. Its not a large town, by any meens, but the parking lot of the policestation has about twenty patrol cars, which you rarely see"on patrol". the last police chief left office because of some stink about purchasing two motorcycle units. WE DONT HAVE A MOTORCYCLE DIVISION , FOR CHRISTS SAKE!
i could go on,,but,
rant off.

 

[Andyman]

whom do you trust more, a police officer or a college professor? hm...

Actually, that's a pretty tough question because I'm pretty sure most of us have seen some pretty inappropriate actions on the part of law enforcement.

Only the fly on the wall knows what really went down there, but I'm certain both sides could have handled it better, although I'm curious about the allegations about the police sergeant not providing his name and badge number.

 

[Argyle]

he refused to show ID and flipped out. what if someone went to your front door, tried to get in and became irate and refused to show ID when approached by police?

 

[dew042]

I think it says more about the "victim" society we live in that the first conclusion is racism rather than somebody suspiciously forcing in their own front door and an uncooperative suspect. As someone who has had two packages stolen from my front porch in the last 6 months, I surely wish I could trust someone to respond to something fishy going on at my front door.

dew.

 

[Andyman]

he refused to show ID and flipped out. what if someone went to your front door, tried to get in and became irate and refused to show ID when approached by police?

What if that someone was you?? It was his own property.

Plus this seems to be the real issue, at least for Gates and the black community. Quoted form the linked story....

"It never would have happened — imagine a white professor, a distinguished white professor at Harvard, walking around with a cane, going into his own house, being harassed or stopped by the police. It would never happen."

 

[usedto]

How do you know a distinguished Harvard professor when you see one?

And, as far as the college professors I've known, some (not all) seem to have sucked in a little too much chalkdust in their day, and have a tendency to think that their degrees and awards put them above others.

I think you had to be there to know the whole story.

 

[Andyman]

How do you know a distinguished Harvard professor when you see one?

I think that might be part of the issue, that Gates doesn't fit that "profile", but he fits another??? :scratch2:

 

[usedto]

.....might .....

There's my point.:thmbsp:

 

[SolderIron]

Look at what the prof is teaching. I think he has a short fuse for a long time.

 

[Argyle]

What if that someone was you?? It was his own property.

Plus this seems to be the real issue, at least for Gates and the black community. Quoted form the linked story....

"It never would have happened — imagine a white professor, a distinguished white professor at Harvard, walking around with a cane, going into his own house, being harassed or stopped by the police. It would never happen."

if i were approached by police and asked for ID, i would produce it. that, along with a calm explanation would have put the issue to rest very early on. this guy is making it a racial issue.

 

[Andyman]

Well yes he is, that's his whole point.
Unless I'm wrong, he feels that if he wasn't black, they never would have bothered him.
And he may be right. Who knows? I sure don't.

Plus being a Harvard professor, he probably knows a bit more about the law (and if not probably has friends who do) than the average Joe and decided to make a stand for what he saw as a racially motivated incident.

 

[usedto]

He doesn't know that.