yeah. if this had been racially motivated the cambridge police department would have been quick to issue an apology and scramble an investigation. gates acted like a petulant child instead of a respected harvard professor. it was his house that someone called 911 on and the officer responded. he should have been a little more grateful instead of being so quick to wallow in self righteous indignation. when you decide to get in a pissing contest, the guy with the gun and cuffs is going to win. ~~:<<
yeah. if this had been racially motivated the cambridge police department would have been quick to issue an apology and scramble an investigation. gates acted like a petulant child instead of a respected harvard professor. it was his house that someone called 911 on and the officer responded. he should have been a little more grateful instead of being so quick to wallow in self righteous indignation. when you decide to get in a pissing contest, the guy with the gun and cuffs is going to win. ~~:<<
Astute observation.
Thus my having stated in my very first series of posts in this here thread that Mr Gates was foolish not only for initiating a verbal tirade against Officer Crowley, but even more so he was foolish to have permitted Crowley entry into his home.
He should have simply identified himself and shut the front door.
Had Crowley then been of the mind that Mr Gates was unlawfully on the premises, he could have easily applied for a search warrant and had it on hand within a couple hours while he and another officer maintained observation of the home to assure that the "suspect" was not in fact - burglarizing the property.
Of course, such an application for a warrant based on the facts at hand would have been pretty quickly snuffed. But that's all moot since Gates's poor choice of response triggered the rueful comedy of errors which actually followed.
For probably 95% of the population, it's a pretty losing situation to aggressively assert your legal rights with a police officer, especially if it's in a location where the officer is being scrutinized by other citizens and his pride is put on the line.
You might be fully in the right, legally. But that won't stop some officers from placing you under arrest and taking you down to jail.
If you're like me and have decent legal connections in your community, or you're like Mr Gates who has both legal connections in his community and solid personal financial base - such an incident can be cleared up within a few hours.
But lacking both of those cards, most citizens would be looking at a day or more (up to a couple weeks even) in jail and when released on the back end with no charges filed in court, they would likely be wholly unable to finance a wrongful-arrest case against the agency involved.
You might be fully in the right, legally. But that won't stop some officers from placing you under arrest and taking you down to jail.
If you're like me and have decent legal connections in your community, or you're like Mr Gates who has both legal connections in his community and solid personal financial base - such an incident can be cleared up within a few hours.
But lacking both of those cards, most citizens would be looking at a day or more (up to a couple weeks even) in jail and when released on the back end with no charges filed in court, they would likely be wholly unable to finance a wrongful-arrest case against the agency involved.
Quote:
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset" class=alt2>Originally Posted by Pat Patriot
Oh no no no.
The police administration would run like fucking cowards if there were even an inkiling this smelled of racism...those in the admin are mostly political hacks and would empty their entire bowels on this cop if it were even to come closr to hurting them.
For them to be on the cop side is way biiger story than the unions.
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Your racist attitudes as consistently expressed here the past few years belie the reality I've experienced in my own interaction with police of all races and political persuasions going back almost a decade. It's a very, very rare (5% would be a generous estimate) case when police officials don't immediately get the back of officer(s) who have fumbled the ball while on the job.
Far be it from me to talk you out of your deep-seated bitterness on topics such as these.
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I can tell you from close personal observations how political appointed admintration hacks respond to PC issues wether regarding race,gender, sex. YOU ARE GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT!
When those things are not involved I agree with you.When they are involved all bets are off.
In this case they were out front with the union backing the cop...In Cambridge Ma.!!!
i mean, people view shit different. if i'm in my home and a cop rings the doorbell, says the neighbors called 911 and reported seeing someone breaking into my home and could i prove my identity. i would go grab my id or whatever he asked for. if he followed me in without invitation it might annoy me a little, but i would hold my tongue unless maybe there was a big fattie laid out on my living room table. if after seeing my id he asked if he could take a look around, i would say sure, unless maybe there was a naked 12 year old tied to my bed. it wouldn't matter if the cop was white or black. it has been my experience through my time in the military, that different races in our society work very well together, and when it comes to racial controversies, those controversies usually always started because of the insecurities and underlying bigotry of the one who cried foul, and once the foul is called it opens a huge can of worms for all involved because suddenly everyone tries to prove they're not a bigot.
Your enthusiastic use of Bold Font and large sized font noted.
It nonetheless remains a fact nationwide that it's very, very rare for police upper management to not instantly side with officers' actions, regardless of race. The only "news" in the thread topic case would be if the Cambridge PD brass and/or the union were to publicly distance themselves from Crowley's clumsy mismanagement of events at Mr Gates's private residence.
Aside from the fact that it's rather unusual for police officers to "put their lives on the line for you and me", simply having a job with some personal hazard involved should not make one legally immune from another citizen telling them to go fuck themselves.
There are most certainly times when that is not only a legal utterance, but likely rather appropriate for those moments when a police officer(s) is in clear violation of a citizen's personal rights.
You don't know and I don't know.
I don't call a victimless disorderly arrest a crime personally anyway.
I call labels of racist when none is there more of a crime.Thats a hate crime.
But I think in the context of what your trying to say, or at least what I think your trying to say. I agree with you.
But this is much more than that,and thats what all you guys know.
This is a prejudged charge of racism and defamation toward a white cop,by the Mayor,Gov. and POTUS.
Which is backed by all three of their initial comments on the matter.
Which backs up my earler post of this claim...
like i said, people view shit differently. some people have such a pasionate hatred for persons of authority that they can't wait to show their ass and say "fuck you pig, i know my rights".
personally, i'm one of those who pauses for a moment of silence when an officer loses his life in the line of duty. i say such bullshit as "yes sir". of course, i don't drive with unlawful contents in my vehicle nor do i partake in or conceal illegal acts in my home. and in my own personal experience with law enforcement, from getting a dui in '97 to having the county sheriff live a few houses down from me today, i have never been given a reason other than to assume that the cop i may bump into tomorrow is only trying to do his job, and sometimes that might be a nuisance to me.
personally, i'm one of those who pauses for a moment of silence when an officer loses his life in the line of duty. i say such bullshit as "yes sir". of course, i don't drive with unlawful contents in my vehicle nor do i partake in or conceal illegal acts in my home. and in my own personal experience with law enforcement, from getting a dui in '97 to having the county sheriff live a few houses down from me today, i have never been given a reason other than to assume that the cop i may bump into tomorrow is only trying to do his job, and sometimes that might be a nuisance to me.
I do know because I have read the police report and I am assuming it is 100% true.
Defamation? This is another case altogether and without going too deep into it, Crowley would not be able to prevail because there was no false statement of FACT. Accusing someone of being a racist is not a statement of fact upon which a defamation case could lie.
D2Bets challenges: My point all along is that Gates in fact did not commit the crime that he was charged with. Period. Are you now in agreement this or not? Simple yes or no will do. You don't know and I don't know.
PPatriot replies: You don't know and I don't know.<!-- / message --><!-- / message -->
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Bar: Whew! It only took seven pages of forum posts and 179 Replies for you to finally admit that the claims you blasted out within the first page of this thread were founded purely in your own imagination.
Thanks.
Now I have to hit the lawn/garden circuit to make some $$ so the SheBar will agree to allow me entrance this evening into our private residence.
PPatriot replies: You don't know and I don't know.<!-- / message --><!-- / message -->
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Bar: Whew! It only took seven pages of forum posts and 179 Replies for you to finally admit that the claims you blasted out within the first page of this thread were founded purely in your own imagination.
Thanks.
Now I have to hit the lawn/garden circuit to make some $$ so the SheBar will agree to allow me entrance this evening into our private residence.
That's not true either.
The Middlesex County district attorney and the district attorney's office "has agreed to enter a "nolle prosequi" in this matter," meaning that it will not be pursued.
There is no wording that the charges were "bogus".
They did the right thing and dropped the charges in good faith to settle down the issue.
There was no need to prosecute.
The arrest is what diffused the situation...and Sgt. Crowley used the police tools at his disposal to do that.
Dropping the charges after the arrest is common...and does NOT mean the arrest was unwarranted.
