Posted on 07/30/2009 6:36:55 AM PDT by Captain Kirk
“The biggest and most obvious difference is that Gates’s outburst was caused by the police presence in the first place.”
Which they had a RIGHT to be there due to a reported crime. More importantly they were REQUIRED to be there - it is a condition of their employment!
So, when the police arrive on your property to investigate a crime you want them to simply walk away when you scream and yell at them! No questions asked from the police - from the police point of view: does this seem like “normal” behavior from someone whom you are trying to assist?!? I, having been in that type situation, can tell you that you have a tendency to hang around to ensure there is no other ongoing problem.
The police, in trying to do their job, did in deed find a man who was exhibiting “disorderly conduct” and he was arrested for that conduct.
Bingo!! Yes, Obama's army of civil servants would be happy to come over and arrest you and they'd be even happier if they could arrest you for arguing with them or even questioning them. Do you really want to give them that power?
BTTT!!!
Replace “Gates” with “Rush Limbaugh.” Re-run thread. Watch in amazement.
“There is no way for the officer to know that Gates was improperly operating outside his role of a normal courteous resident and make adjustments for it. He wasn’t encountering Gates during a lecture or public appearance where he could make reasonable adjustments for how to deal with him as an activist of whatever validity. He was instead encountering him in the capacity of a person at the scene of a possible crime.”
The remarkable thing to me is that no one takes into account that the LEO must lock down the scene, clear the premises and conduct a proscribed routine. Suppose the Prof were being robbed, the perp was in a closet with a gun on him and telling him to get rid of the cop or else? Until the LEO knows the house is clear, the scene is “hot.”
Showing a University badge and screaming get out does not mean that there is no one else in the house or that there is no further crime in progress. THAT is why you need to look around and make sure the scene is clear and call for back up in the event it is not. The call clearly stated there were two men.
“And in some circumstances, it’s called ‘abuse of power.’”
Absolutely correct, and if an internal investigation of the circumstances by competent persons, knowledgeable in police procedures find that this was the case here, then I apologize.
But, from experience, I can assure you Officer Crowley was well within his rights as a public servant and sworn officer of the City of Cambridge.
You will drive good people from becoming police officers, who does that leave?
Nonsense all around. The law is the law, cops are cops and too many cops are lawbreakers rather than law enforcers.
They have to earn respect and they are failing at that.
I disagree, obviously. The LEO is the law and is there to enforce. That there are some bad ones is not a reason to automatically conclude there are “too many” and I have seen no statistics to prove that. Personally, my only interaction with LEOs in the last thirty years has been entirely positive.
What would happen to someone, anyone spoke to Obama like Gates to Crowley?
“Replace ‘Gates’ with ‘Rush Limbaugh.’ Re-run thread. Watch in amazement.”
I would be amazed, as Rush would have probably showed his ID, thanked the officer, offered him coffee and made him more of hero by mentioning the courteous, fast-acting actions of the local police force. But, that would be a different thread!
It seems that people on this thread are accusing the Officer of escalating the situation by arresting the childish foul mouthed race baiter Gates.
If Gates had been cordial and answered the Officer's questions in a civilized manner, while understanding that the Officer was there to investigate a possible criminal activity, we would not be having this conversation.
Gates is one of those people who thinks the world revolves around him and the world owes him a living. In other words, a typical Obama supporter.
To begin with, yes. The fact that police had reason to be there at one time does not justify their indefinite continued presence. The investigation of the reported crime ended BEFORE the arrest. If Crowley had arrested Gates for failing to identify himself in the first place, I wouldn't have any problem with it.
So, when the police arrive on your property to investigate a crime you want them to simply walk away when you scream and yell at them!
No, I want them to walk away as soon as they realize no crime occurred.
No questions asked from the police - from the police point of view: does this seem like “normal” behavior from someone whom you are trying to assist?!?
Of course not. So far as I'm aware, there is not yet any law requiring people to be "normal," even in a craphole like Massachusetts.
I, having been in that type situation, can tell you that you have a tendency to hang around to ensure there is no other ongoing problem.
"Other ongoing problem"? With no evidence? Sounds like a fishing expedition. In this case, it is clear to me that de-escalation would have been best accomplished by police departure.
The police, in trying to do their job, did in deed find a man who was exhibiting “disorderly conduct” and he was arrested for that conduct.
Where "disorderly conduct" again means loudly expressing a disapproved opinion of the police.
Exactamundo. The cop is called to a scene which can either have a wholly benign or a wholly sinister (and therefore deadly) explanation. Certainly the subject’s race is not a factor which the cop can use in making his initial determination; but, just as certainly, the subject’s behavior and attitude are factors he properly considered.
you obviously missed the point that he was “on his own property,” which means all that other stuff just goes out the window.
I hope that no one goes on a shooting spree (from his own property) near many of these posters. I mean, the shooter just has to yell, “This is my property! Get out of here you racists pigs!” and the police are supposed to leave - IMMEDIATELY!
Unfortunately, they'd probably be tackled to the ground and tossed in the clicker. Sad to say, the Americans long ago tossed aside the noble British tradition of allowing public heckling of their leaders. And your point is.....?
“That’s your prerogative, obviously. You are, however, ignoring tons of data to the contrary.
Plus I’ve read countless stories about them being that and worse, literally getting away with murder in numerous incidents.”
Ohhhh...tons of data and what you’ve read...yep, I’m convinced...hahahahahah...sorry, but this is just way too juvenile. See you around the campus.
“I hope that no one goes on a shooting spree (from his own property) near many of these posters. I mean, the shooter just has to yell, “This is my property! Get out of here you racists pigs!” and the police are supposed to leave - IMMEDIATELY!”
Or better yet, someone get s the drop on them and they call the cops somehow but they don’t show up because the last time they did they were treated like shit...which seems to be OK to some of these posters...because there are sooooo many bad cops...
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