Nightmare on Ware Street

The Reality-Based Community: Nightmare on Ware Street

A couple of years ago, my neighbor locked herself out and figured she could save the locksmith charge if she could get to an unlocked door on her second floor porch. A Cambridge police officer happened by and helped us carry an extension ladder across the street from my garage. He even held the ladder steady while my nimble neighbor ascended to the porch. The police officer never asked two laughing Caucasian women to prove we were not burglars.

We all know that race and sex explain the difference in the way Sgt. James Crowley treated Professor Gates, but I'd like to leave that to the side for now. The incendiary issue of race in policing diverts public attention from examining the foundation of Crowley's misconduct. When addressing basic errors in law and fact can solve a problem, we should start there before tackling the enormous and slippery issues of race and crime investigation. We're all talking about whether Lucia Whalen should have called the police and whether race was a factor in Sgt. Crowley's deplorable treatment of Gates, but so far, I have seen no straightforward analysis of Crowley's own account of his actions.

Sgt. Crowley's report almost certainly contains intentional falsehoods, but even accepting his account at face value, the report tells us all we need to conclude that Crowley was in the wrong here, and by a large factor.  ...

Comments

[ZZMike]

I think the article has it backwards. First, when the neighbors called the police, why is it that they didn't recognize their neighbor Gates? (I don't know if it happened during daylight or not.)

Second, anyone who starts an argument with a policeman is not very bright. Once a certain level is reached, a policeman will never never back down. Sometimes this isn't the ideal, but most of the time, it is.

Crowley's record is unimpeachable.

The sorriest thing about this episode is the President's getting involved. The President has a lot more important things to worry about (not the least of which is his declining popularity).

[Michael W. Kruse]

I certainly agree with you that Obama should have stayed out of it. For a guy who usually is so good at calculating political impact of his actions, he really put is foot in it this time.

[tim]

I am not a fan of the police, but Crowley was antagonized to the point where his only option was to arrest the guy. Did race play a role? Sure. Most crime is commited by blacks, and that's not an opinion, nor a racist comment, it's a fact.

[Michael W. Kruse]

Actually, most crime is committed by Whites but certainly Blacks are convicted of crimes out of proportion to their numbers.

Gates was clearly worked up about it but skilled officers have ways of diffusing such scenes. I unconvinced it was "the only option."