Obama-"Cambridge Police acted stupid"

[Resq14]

I think it was inappropriate for the POTUS to go out on a limb like Obama did.

Regardless of his comment...

I'm very much okay with the response to a burglary, asking for identification, etc. Even Obama conceded this is a common sense response. BUT, it DOES sound like the professor ASSUMED he was being targeted from the get-go by acting so stand-offish and accusatory.

With that said, once the identification was made, I'm a little uncomfortable with the arrest of someone in their home/on their property for yelling at me.

I've walked and driven away from f-bombs on someone's property more than once... I have thick skin.

[DPD]

I would tend to agree with you, but I was not there....

[creolecop]

First off the Officer was dispatched to a call of a person breaking into a home. If the neigbors don't know their own neighbor it sounds like Mr. Gates is not a very social subject in his neighborhood.

Furthermore what the hell are the officers suppose to do when dispatched to a burglary supposedly in progress, get there and start seeing some hands and finding ID's. The Officer requested him to ID himself when he claimed to be the homeowner, but then refused to provide the ID to the officer, saying he doesn't have to show him zhit..... WTH, he officer is there protecting your zhit and you treat him like this.

This is equal to a clerk asking to see your ID when you use a credit card and the customer gets all pizzy because they want to see your ID even though you said it's you, they don't know you and they are PROTECTING YOUR ZHIT!!

Obama lost alot of respect from me on this one, and not because I'm a cop but because Stevie Wonder could see the officer was just doing his job trying to verify if he was the homeowner or not. Once he gets in cuffs, then he wants to show the ID..........dumb***!!!

[KB8315]

Dr. Skip Gates and His Surprising Outrage
"Dr. Gates misplaced his keys and simply had to break into his own home. A passerby saw the break in and alerted the police. I guess that's what people do when they walk through Cambridge and see a black man break into a home. You know, because a black man, a black professor, the owner of the home, is an evil little thieving monster and if he's not reigned in he might try to steal the gold from your tooth.
Now apparently the police asked for Dr. Gates' I.D. and he gave it to them, but quickly expressed his outrage about the intrusion. He called the police officer racist over and over and allegedly surprised the officer and the neighbors with his behavior. I love it.
The officer and the neighbors were surprised that Gates, a black man, would express outrage at the relentless profiling that black men endure on a daily. I can just imagine their thoughts: “Why is Dr. Gates so upset? It’s only your classic racial profiling of a black man in America. It’s not like someone toilet-papered his home or kidnapped his pooch.”
Look, I would have screamed, too. I would have called the cop a racist, among other things. I don't know how many times black men have to explain that we're profiled everyday and enough is enough. From being pulled over for allegedly looking like a drug dealer to walking down the street eating an apple, it's all dehumanizing. My paternal grand-uncle was killed by white police for not letting them enter his Georgia home and search for a "fugitive". Incidents like this happen all of the time and the degree of outrage should never be… surprising."

THIS IS TAKEN FROM A PREDOMINATLY BLACK BLOG...NO KIDDING.

All this for answering a B&E in progress run, and asking for ID from the occupant you find inside. I wonder was there damage to the front door from being forced. Who would not request id? What homeowner would not be glag you resonded or that someone was looking out for them? sometimes you cant win.

I don't think you read the police report that is posted on the web.

[towncop]

I've read most of the stories about the incident and i've concluded two things. 1) Gates acted stupidly and 2) the Sgt. acted stupidly. Both people should be sent to bed without dessert.

Gates should have recognized that the officer was simply trying to do his job and not pull out the race card first. He escalated the confrontation from simply a typical run in with a police officer to a racism issue.

The Sgt. should have known that a charge of disorderly conduct which specifically says it has to take place in public, isn't going to stick while a person stands in their own home. Additionally, our policy requires us to identify ourselves by name and badge number anytime a citizen requests it, if we don't, there can be hell to pay. Sounds like Gates and the Sgt. were getting into a peeing match.

The city is already distancing themselves from the Sgt, which is both understandable and unfortunate. They've called it "regrettable and unfortunate."

Both the Sgt. and Gates appear to have made mistakes.

Disorderly conduct arrests in a person's own home have been made and STUCK here in Indiana.

[Resq14]

Same here.

But usually they're "solve the problem for the night" type situations.

That could've been the case here.. just doesn't seem like it to me. *shrug*

If anyone wants to read the police report, here it is:

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/download/2009/0720/20120754.pdf

Here's Obama's response:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGRslZ0nrik

[Softscrubb]

1. POTUS has no place weighing in on this issue with inaccurate information and an unbiased point of view (admittedly a friend of Gates).

2. From what I see, it's Gates who is the racist. He threw it around without merit.

3. People and the media want to make this a 'racial profiling' by law enforcement issue. The officers did not stop Gates, they responded to a radio call. They responded to a 3rd party complaint and found an open front door and a beligerent male in the home.

I've been a cop for 11 years working patrol and investigations. I have been to many calls were the crook tells you it's his car, house, motorcycle, bike.. etc.. and believe it or not... yes, I'm going to say it 'Crooks lie!'. I know, it's almost hard to believe that a crook would lie about where/why they were at a place.

Under the media's perception the fact the guy initially says 'It's my house' should satisfy the officer's for ID.. wrong. The guy is clearly aggitated from the very beginning, could it be a DV issue were Gates has come home to his soon to be ex-wife's house and broken in. The mear fact he has an ID card with the address does not satisfy why he is so upset. To me, I would think he has something to hide. Could his ex-wife to be be dead in a room. Don't say 'no'... it can and HAS happened.

I've worked a very busy part of a very large City for a long time. I have seen the most 'innocent' call turn deadly.

Stay safe out there!!

Scrubb

[george4]

Imagine if W had made the same comment about a black police officer arresting a deserving white subject. Nancy and her gang would be calling for his head!

The President is arrogant. He apparently can take an aggressive stand at the local level while the dictators of the world are embarassing him on a daily basis and he has shown a complete lack of testicular fortitude to deal with them!

What a joke!

[DPD]

I don't think you read the police report that is posted on the web.

I read the report yes, But the blogger that I quoted had read it as well and this was his take/feelings on what happened. I was remarking on his artical. Clear as mud right.

https://www.theroot.com/

[Resq14]

As I was watching the news tonight they showed a live shot of the Sgt. his home and told everyone watching what town he lived in. The whole thing is disgrace.

That's unbelievable!

[chiefcop]

The police report clears up some of the blanks that were left out there. Read it there are 2 of them from 2 officers.

Now---even if the sgt was wrong and the subject were wrong...the president did not have common sense to make a decision based upon incomplete facts.

Also it is not very presidential to insult ALL OF CAMBRIDGE POLICE on national television!

Further being a friend of the subject the president should have recused himself from making comments completely!

These comments surely have polarized our nation even further than it already is.

I would like to take a moment to thank the men and women of the Cambridge Mass Police department for what they do everyday. I for one do not think you are stupid and I am sure my sentiments are repeated by many in the country.

I believe the president owes the Cambridge Police department as well as all law enforcement an apology. It is not very presidential to say what he said and also to comment on things that he knows little about. It is poor manners to insult anyone, especially in the position he holds.

I would say he is trying to destroy our nation with clear intent.

Change we can live with , huh? Great. And we have how many years of this left....

[john600rr]

Is this a surprise to anyone honestly? Because he's black he's immune to the law and listening to Law Enforcement. Sounds reasonable to me.

Obama thinks police are stupid for doing their job. I stopped listening to him a long time ago and I don't know why anyone would.

[8moretogo]

Is this a surprise to anyone honestly? Because he's black he's immune to the law and listening to Law Enforcement. Sounds reasonable to me.

Obama thinks police are stupid for doing their job. I stopped listening to him a long time ago and I don't know why anyone would.

I never listened to him, nor would I ever vote for him.

[PtlCop]

Disorderly conduct arrests in a person's own home have been made and STUCK here in Indiana.

Our agency got sued for making one, and lost big. That officer now works for Eagle Trident as a security guard.

[towncop]

Our agency got sued for making one, and lost big. That officer now works for Eagle Trident as a security guard.

Too bad for him. I've made numerous arrests in such cases. Won them as well, jury and bench trials. Why does the officer work as a security guard now? Get sued individually? Didn't get qualified immunity? Agency didn't defend him?