The Atlantic - Latest Comments in Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Anuncie — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:19:15 -0000

Thanks for this article, very interesting, i like this.
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Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

guitaroholic — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:16:46 -0000

UH OH! The audio of the 911 call has finally been released. Now we all can draw a legitimate comparison between Lucia Whalen's verbal/audio description and the "Golden Honest Text" of officer Crowley's official police report.

Here is the link for the Crowley's report: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates1.html

Please take special note of the third paragraph where Crowley states

" She went on to tell me that she observed what appeared to be two black males with backpacks on the porch of 17 Ware street."

Now here is the all important audio link of Whalen clearly stating that she could not tell the race of the individuals that she observed. When pressed by the dispatcher, she says one of them may have been Hispanic!

Audio link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/audio/2009/07/27/AU2009072701389.html?sid=ST2009072703057

I have listened to this enough times and gone over the report to find contradictions that are striking.

I keep reading statements that the mean ol' professor should have been more polite and gracious. Let's see, impolite and loud in your own home. Tricked into going outside to make the case of "disorderly conduct in a public place."

Go directly to jail...

Abuse the public trust with a highly suspect legal document that justifies the trick or treat arrest. Again, he never documents what Gates has said that was so out of line.

Priceless.

I think the issue of police honesty is where the majority of change needs to be made. I am willing to bet that millions of Americans will never raise their voices if all cops stop would stop the testalying.

Wake up America IT IS a racial issue if the person (Lucia Whalen) reporting the incident says specifically she could not identify the race (hear her say it in her own words) and the policeman substitutes "Two black men" in his report. Or, in his mind. I am not calling him a racist. However, in light of the contradiction of facts he appears to have some hidden issues with race.

Are we to believe that Whalen contradicted herself with officer Crowley while on the phone with Cambridge P.D. dispatch? The taped report would tell us otherwise.

Might we have some doubts as to the validity of Crowely's report? If he is willing to falsify these details what else is he willing to lie about? What else is he willing to do?

People, we pay this man to wear a badge and carry a gun. Honestly.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

criss — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:26:44 -0000

I agree with you completely!

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

criss — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:23:29 -0000

I know that racism still exists in America but things are getting better, even though stupid things still happen every now and then. I'm sure that the police wasn't polite or friendly and Mr. Gates was rude and uncooperative because he thought he was justified. Both party's were wrong in this case and it could have been avoided by both parties. When I was seven, my dad and I were at gas station when the police pulled up with guns drawn and began yelling at my dad to get down on the ground. He refused and began arguing with the police. They took him by force and hurt him really bad. He thought he was in the right because he'd done nothing wrong, but he wasn't. They thought he'd robbed a convenience store because he fit the profile. When it was all over, they said it could have been prevented if he had cooperated (By the way..we are white-weird things happen to everyone!) People need to work together to make America better and it should start with you and me. Don't just demand respect (even if you are in the right)give it too! There are always two sides to every fence we build.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Gordon Simms — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:48:46 -0000

Cops have the obligation to investigate this stuff.

"Almost getting arrested" is like "almost getting pregnant".

In an era of home invasions, police are more likely to check out the house not just take your word for it. Imagine that there are actual criminals in the house that send the homeowner out to talk to the cops with the instructions, get ready of the cops or will kill your daughter/wife.

The cops were well within their rights asking follow up questions after it was determined that Gates was the homeowner.

When all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail. Gates has a big old "race hammer".

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Gordon Simms — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:40:48 -0000

We should all be respectful to police officers. Sounds like Gates wants to be given respect but is a bit stingy when it come to doling it out... unless your skin is the right color.

Racist cop? I'm not so sure. Gates is cranky because of the weight of that giant chip on his shoulder. He even hates himself because he is 50% white. (Check it out, confirmed by a recent DNA test.)

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Gordon Simms — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:36:00 -0000

Limited education...Cops?! How about you, Larry?

"Limited"... "address"... "officer"... "sergeant"... "acquaintances"... Maybe your dad should have helped you with your homework instead of filling your head with nonsense. The cops are the good guys, dummy.

If a cop called you dumb ass, he may be right!

Never forget that the police are the thin blue line before order and chaos. Make fun of them here but when you hear a window break downstairs at 3:00 am and your family is in jeopardy, are you gonna call the police or the ACLU.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

guitaroholic — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:41:51 -0000

It's a sad day when Americans think that "belligerence" is a crime. Anyone could be very upset with confusing police actions in their own home. Questioning and talking out is normal behavior when we are attempting to right a wrong. However, I was taught to "go silent" and not become a police shooting statistic by my depression era parents. Does it always have to be that way?

Our founding Fathers were belligerent!

I sincerely doubt Gates was physically aggressive. This term (belligerent)is consistently applied when minorities question authority. It has been applied in previous posts as some type of rationalization for the use of police force. The tactics employed by Officer Crowely were arrogant and over the top. Crowely employs the term "tumultuous behavior in a public place" to describe Gates criminal demeanor. I refuse to categorize Crowely as a racist, but overzealous attitudes of supremacy do not reflect the values I need from any police department.

Let's give a special thanks to the good citizen neighbor who called the P.D. But, just maybe she could have invested a minute prior to the incident to meet her neighbor too. The police report is pretty odd, particularly if read from the viewpoint of the second officer, Fiqueroa. Fiqueroa's remedial report has some differences of omission that make Crowely's report look like he is trying really hard to show that Gates somehow had the ability to incite a riot.

Read it for yourself. We all know that C. Y. A. is a police norm. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates1.html

I find it very revealing that officer Crowely refuses to apologize when directed to do so by the Mayor of Cambridge. Should he be punished for his belligerence? Is this a possible sign of how big his ego might be? Are these actions in part what may cause minorities to be more sensitive and have stronger reactions?

Please know and understand that it hurts a lot more and the expression of pain gets louder, when you get injured in the same place repeatedly.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Gar W. Lipow — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:53:11 -0000

Gates' version in his own words is now up:

http://www.theroot.com/views/skip-gates-speaks?page=0,0

It includes a doctors statement that he has not yet recovered from serious bronchitis, which cast doubt on the "tumultuous" story of the police.

Bear in mind that there is good reason to have serious doubts about police testimony about anyone they arrest, just as there is good reason to have serious doubts about the claim of a used car salesperson that the first price named is the lowest they can go.

One bit of evidence about this is the term "testilying" invented by the NYPD some decades ago to describe giving testimony in court. I'm sure that has been replaced by other terms since. But many police departments have joking terms for this. Like most jokes, the element of truth is what makes it funny.

It is a fairly routine matter for a police officer to lie, and to omit material truths during testimony to help make a case. Again, remember the term is a police invention, a term they used about themselves.

(Many don't see this lying. The attitude is often "juries are deeply stupid. If saying certain things helps a deeply stupid jury to see the truth, that this defendant is a guilty scumbag, then that is valid testimony. ")

So at the very least police testimony should not be given more weight than that of private citizens, and given the routine nature of lies in that testimony, I might even give it less. That is not being anti-police any more than not believing the first offer is the best possible is being anti-used car seller. It is simply recognizing the reality of how a particular trade or profession works.

It appears that some people may be shocked to hear that police officers routinely engage in perjury. But how often do you hear of a police officer charged with perjury even when caught trying to lie someone into jail? I know of one case where four or five officers gave testimony contradicted by videotape. The defendant was acquitted, but the officers were not in even the smallest trouble.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

mushr00m — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:34:29 -0000

Well, then I guess someone read a legal document and substituted a legal conclusion for a statement of facts. I guess that's Mass Code for "stark raving mad." I was watching Hung last night and the protagonist yells at the police about harassing him for peeing in the lake and not too kindly tells him to get off his property. No he was not arrested...

Anyway, campus police, huh. Yeah, that says everything.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

KearaO — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:43:19 -0000

Larry, I also like your four rules very much. #4 is especially wise - "Do not try to get justice from the cop. Try to not get killed." I have always called this Realpolitik.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Carrington — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:20:29 -0000

Doh!

The change is that they redacted the name of the neighbor who made the call. Probably got a call from her lawyer, or from their lawyer.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Carrington — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:14:49 -0000

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

No. The standard of guilt vs. innocence is much higher than the standard of competence vs. incompetence.

Policemen should be fired before their behavior defames the force... union be damned. Give 'em a severance and unemployment benefits, but get them off the street.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

crossdotcurve — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:11:06 -0000

Mysteriously, the police report has reappeared...

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Original_PDF/2009/07/21/0721docket_redacted_revised__1248200728_6644.pdf

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Lisa J — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:36:48 -0000

he did show his drivers license and the Harvard ID. And if he was being an asshole, a big if, that isn't illegal AND the cop was the BIGGER asshole for arresting him in his house once he knew it was Gates' house. If you are in your house that you own and pay a big mortgage on you can be as much of an asshole as you want to be. Shoot.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Sertleşme — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:07:41 -0000

That's stand-up comedy at its best, especially given the circumstances.

-sertleşme

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Lisa J — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:05:44 -0000

Read some other sources, because the Statement that Gates' lawyer and the police report both concur that he showed his driver's license, and his Harvard ID, both of which had his photo on it and the license had his address in it. Also, the Campus police arrived to and confirmed that he was Henry Louis Gates and it was his house, however, since the local police were called, they could not intervene in not having him arrested.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

irishpirate — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:25:07 -0000

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/21/AR2009072101771.html?hpid=topnews

Seems like a new PBS special by Professor Gates may be in the offing.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

crossdotcurve — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:12:44 -0000

The police report seems to have been pulled from the internets.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Marcos El Malo — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:56:42 -0000

Poor man is just not going to get any street cred unless he accompanies James Lipton to a JayZ show.

(Did you happen to see the 200th episode of Inside Actors' Studio where Dave interviews Lipton? Must watch if you are a fan on either of those gentlemen.)

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

JL — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:19:21 -0000

Racism in Cambridge? Say it ain't so!

When I was an undergrad (in Cambridge, though not at Harvard), our campus police stopped an Arab-American friend of mine for carrying a roll of duct tape while walking through campus - they thought it looked "suspicious". Fortunately, after he showed his student ID, they let him go, albeit with some grumbling.

I never was sure what they feared he was going to do with it.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Holden — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:12:41 -0000

Brent, you're so funny. Have you ever served on the jury of a criminal trial? The judge admonishes you to treat police testimony with the same degree of skepticism that you treat all other testimony. And a police report is testimony.

Brent, I guess you've never had a cop write an untrue arrest report or traffic ticket about you. Consider yourself fortunate. Once a cop (in an unmarked car) came up behind me so fast that I swerved to get out of his way because I thought he was going to rear-end me. He ticketed me for changing lanes without signalling. The lying bastard didn't show up in traffic court.

A friend of mine was a cops reporter for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, and she wrote something that the police didn't like. So they told her editor that she had stolen some files from a detective's desk. That was a lie. She was fired.

And she and I are both white!

As a reporter I've covered trials where it was obvious that the cops were testilying. If you watched the OJ trial, you watched a detective lie his ass off when he described how he took a sock out of evidence and delivered it to the other end of the hallway, when it turned out that he took the sock out to his car, drove to OJ's house, and did god knows what with it before delivering it to the office down the hall. The sock miraculously became spotted with blood (mixed with a preservative that evidence techs use) during this bizarre trip, although the cop testilied that he didn't taint the evidence.

It's not smart to believe that a police report, or any police testimony, is completely truthful.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

irishpirate — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:06:46 -0000

Marcos,

I do try to be evil. Unfortunately, in non cyber life I'm generally polite and decent to people. Poor upbringing.

I do sorta picture Professor Gates up on a soapbox in Harvard Square channeling the high octave pitch of Dave Chappelle and yelling "See fuck my DNA, I'm black bitch".

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Cynic — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:49:18 -0000

For the Record:

The City of Cambridge and the Cambridge Police Department have recommended to the Middlesex County District Attorney that the criminal charge against Professor Gates not proceed. Therefore, in the interests of justice, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office has agreed to enter a nolle prosequi in this matter.

The City of Cambridge, the Cambridge Police Department, and Professor Gates acknowledge that the incident of July 16, 2009 was regrettable and unfortunate. This incident should not be viewed as one that demeans the character and reputation of Professor Gates or the character of the Cambridge Police Department. All parties agree that this is a just resolution to an unfortunate set of circumstances.

Re: Skip Gates Arrested For Breaking And Entering...

Carrington — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:29:53 -0000

I might suggest that dealing with tense racial situations ought to be considered a fairly significant element of a police-officer's core competence.

The problem with discussing 'abuses of power,' (on the part of Prof Gates or Officer Figueroa) or racism is that it distracts from a clear-eyed discussion of the policeman's job and his role in society.

Officer Figueroa might be called on to talk down a potential suicide or resolve an armed domestic dispute. He couldn't manage to tamp down a violent agreement (sic) with a 58+ year old arrogant-but-geeky Harvard Professor. If nothing else, he deserves the CPD's Milton Waddams employee-of-the month award.

Gates and his neighbors have good reason to worry that their tax dollars are being poorly spent on Cambridge's finest.