Police say: Becoming angry is a crime

That's Sgt. James Crowley in the picture by Steven Senne/Associated Press from the New York Times article Officer Defends Arrest of Harvard Professor by Liz Robbins.

First, it doesn't matter whether this incident was racially motivated or not. It's just bad police procedure in any case. He claims to have followed procedures but if his actions follow procedures then maybe they ought to be changed.

Answer this question: Do you think this officer's reasons for arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. are valid?

"Sergeant Crowley said that he arrested Professor Gates because the professor got angry after being asked for identification and proof of his address, and continued his “tirade after being warned multiple times.” The sergeant said that the professor had berated him, and was adamant that he was following police procedures in making the arrest. "

I have some problems with this statement.

So, by that logic a police officer can arrest someone for becoming angry, continuing a tirade, and berating a police officer. Isn't that what every police officer should expect when confronting someone? It should be standard operating procedure. The police should be above worrying about insults. It's their job to ignore the insults and act with respectful restraint until a crime is committed. That's why we pay them.

"Next, the sergeant said, he warned Professor Gates to calm down and lower his voice, and to step outside to his front porch. Sergeant Crowley said he gave the professor two warnings, the second while holding a set of handcuffs, but that the professor continued berating him. “The professor at any point in time could have resolved the issue by quieting down and/or by going back in the house,” he said in the radio interview."

So, the answer is "submit to authority or be arrested." Nice choice officer, but what if you're wrong about the situation? One of the last resorts should be to arrest someone. Police officers should be trained better to handle conflict resolution with more than handcuffs and warning threats of arrest. Of course, the professor allegedly continued to berate the police officer but because Mr. Gates didn't settle down and submit to police authority he was subject to arrest.

Yes, I know the police call it disorderly conduct and things like not following a lawful directive. Trump the incidents up as the police may but they can make those claims almost any time they interact with the public.

Naturally: "Charges of disorderly conduct against Professor Gates, a leading African-American scholar, were dropped on Tuesday, and the police and Mr. Gates issued a joint statement calling the incident “regrettable and unfortunate.”

There are more problems here. This man was in his own home. There is some dispute over the identification that the professor offered, whether it was just a Harvard ID as the police officer claims or both a Harvard ID and a driver's license with address as Mr. Gates claims.

Frankly, the Harvard ID should have been sufficient to establish identity and residency. The police officer surely had access to a radio. Don't the police always say that the radio is faster than the criminal? Of course they do. The police officer should have taken the time to call in and verify the name and address of whoever lived at that house. It's not like the professor was going anywhere. He was claiming to be at home! The officer had all the time in the world.

So, if the officer took the time to check out the address what would have or could have happened? I doubt the perpetrator would have continued to ransack the house or even run. If he had run, this 58 year old man almost certainly would have been caught shortly. Where is he going to go? Home? The hideout for geriatric house-breaking criminals?

Another thing that is odd about this story is that a neighbor called the cops because there were two black men at the front door of a nearby house seeming to break in. Didn't this neighbor know that there were black people who lived near him? And, since there was also a cab driver helping to pry the door didn't this neighbor stop to think, "hmm, who breaks into a house while having a taxi sitting in the driveway or at the curb?" I wouldn't call the cops for the Taxi House Burglars, necessarily.

I may provide a cite later but I saw an interview on the morning news channels (CNN, HLN, FOX, MSNBC, et al.) today that gave audio/video of a neighbor saying that the professor was out of control and possibly belligerent -- but get this -- he admitted to not being able to distinguish a single word that either party said.

Lastly, and most pathetically, the officer said in response to Professor Gates's request for an apology, "“As I said yesterday, that apology will never come,” Sergeant Crowley said on Thursday. “It won’t come from me as Jim Crowley, it won’t come from me as a sergeant in the Cambridge police department.”"

That officer messed up badly. Arrest should have been a last recourse. He had many other options other than that. It's called using your brain.