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Best comment yet on the controversy that followed the decision of Henry Louis Gates to enter his own home, prompting an urgent response from armed agents of the state:
In their conversation, Sgt. Crowley complained to Obama that the press have been coming onto his lawn. Yes, isn’t it annoying when people come uninvited onto your property?
One thing about the cops you need to speak politely to them because in our culture they outrank you. You may have noticed the uniform and the huge gun at their hip should tell you. I learned long ago don't make any sudden moves, they are paranoid and packing, and be as cordial to them as you can. Talking back to them and raising your voice isn't recommended.
Understanding the psychology of a police officer can save you some hard times and even your life. They want to arrest you if they feel like it. Don't help them along.
David T. Beito -
7/26/2009
Great find. Unfortunately, by immediately racializing the issue (without evidence that race played a part), and then issuing a lame apology non-apology, Obama blew in an opportunity to make a more general point that could have struck accord with Americans across racial lines e.g. no citizen should be arrested for arguing with a cop.
While blacks are more likely to targeted for abuse, this kind of thing happens all too often to whites as well. On youtube there are numerous examples including the tasing of 72 year old grandmother for arguing with a cop and the tasing of a student for refusing to sign a speeding ticket and asking too many questions.
Chris Bray -
7/26/2009
Cop: We got a call saying that you were breaking into this house.
Chris Bray: Breaking in? That's fucking bullshit -- I live here. What asshole said that I was breaking in to my own house? That really pisses me off.
Cop: Did you just say it's "fucking bullshit" that I'm here? That's disorderly conduct!
(Cop chains my hands together and locks me in a cage for four hours.)
Cop: That'll teach you to commit thoughtcrime against an officer of the state!
(Laughter)
Les Baitzer -
7/26/2009
"Yes, isn’t it annoying when people come uninvited onto your property?"
911: Hello, 911 Dispatch.
Female Caller: Hello, 911? I see two men hauling items out of my neighbor’s apartment!!!! Please hurry!!!
911: Calm down ma’am; what’s your address?
F/C: [redacted]
911: What do the men look like?
F/C: Hell ... I dunno … uhhh… one’s an older man, slightly built; the other is a stocky, taller man … wearing like a chauffeur’s hat. They’ve taken two laptops, his wide screen TV, his …
911: What’s you neighbor’s name, ma’am?
F/C: His name is Chris! I don’t know his last name! Why are you asking me such dumb questions? Hurry! Oh my God, now they’ve taken his solid-gold framed US Army Discharge Certificate! Please Hurry!!!!
911: Is your neighbor home?
F/C: No! He’s at work! Ohhhhhhhh!!! Now they’re hauling out his rare post-colonial books, and, OH NO!!! … his baby daughter’s yellow rubber ducky!!!
911: Please calm down! Do you know where your neighbor works, Ma’am?
F/C: WHAT?????? Uhhhh, yes! He’s a teaching assistant at UCLA! You idiots! Quit asking me stupid questions and get over here and stop these guys!!!! You can catch them if you hurry!!!
911: I’m asking you again to calm down, ma’am … we can’t come over until we get your neighbor’s permission to enter his property. (Aside: Fred! When you get a chance, make a call over to UCLA and see if they have a teaching assistant named "Chris.")
F/C: What in the hell is wrong with you? Get a police officer over here!
911: Well, ma’am, ever since the Bray vs California decision, we can no longer enter a person’s property without his permission. You know … “individual rights” … that sorta thing. That’s the law. There’s even talk that the law will soon be expanded to included Fire and EMT Rescue personnel.
F/C: Is that how you treat people in America? [click]
Charles Fulton -
7/26/2009
Same here, thanks for the reply. What you described is what should have happened, but all too frequently doesn't.
Chris Bray -
7/26/2009
I see what you're saying, and I don't know what the Cambridge police could have done under the circumstances but gone to the door and knocked. But imagine if Crowley had just stood on the porch for a few minutes and let Gates vent, then went on his way quietly.
Last comment from me for tonight....
Charles Fulton -
7/26/2009
Well yes, and that wasn't the best word choice on my part. My concern isn't for the police officer so much as for the idea that responding to a report is somehow risible. Criticize the hell out of him for acting like a jackass (and I am shocked, shocked to find a cop power tripping), but it's the neighbor's fault for somehow not recognizing the fellow who lived across the street and deciding to call down the law on him. Now, the media camped out on her lawn would be funny, and we could all discuss the decline and fall of the neighborhood, or how integrated neighborhoods aren't, etc.
Chris Bray -
7/26/2009
The threshold for "abuse" is awfully fucking low, these days. A sizable group of well-armed men were spoken to loudly by an older man with a slight build -- and now people are piling on by posting jokes on blogs!
How, oh how are the police even to go on living?
Poor delicate creatures.
Charles Fulton -
7/26/2009
Ouch. That'll teach me to go from lurking to commenting. My point (made badly I guess) was that it seems odd to criticize a police officer for acting on a report made by a citizen. That's what they're supposed to do. What happened in the house is a separate question. In Detroit, near where I live, there's a serious problem with the police not acting on 911 calls, or with 911 operators abusing the callers. Given that background, abusing the police for being responsive just isn't all that funny.
Chris Bray -
7/25/2009
In fairness, Detroit does have an epidemic of black men entering their own homes without the armed intervention of the state.
Chris Bray -
7/25/2009
Please, please, please let Crowley lose his temper and yell at someone on his front porch.
Jonathan Dresner -
7/25/2009
...the same thing as disturbing the peace? That's what the police report said: people noticed the outburst, so he had to be arrested for disorderly conduct. I wonder what Crowley's neighbors think of that theory about now.....
Ralph E. Luker -
7/25/2009
Seriously, Fulton, why would it occur to you to compare police department responses in Detroit and in Cambridge? The two cities are so obviously comparable. Right?
Charles Fulton -
7/25/2009
Well, the real problem is that Cambridge isn't more like Detroit, where 911 calls are frequently ignored or (worse) the operator berates the caller.
