His identity had already been established. There was nothing left to investigate. In fact, the policeman should have just left his property at that point. Why invite him outside?
I don't think a person has a special duty to be civil to the police. I don't think a person has a special duty to 'tone down' his behaviour on his own property in the middle of the day in order not to offend the police. The fact is, the police presence was what was inflaming the man- who, it must always be remembered, had done nothing wrong in the first place and was minding his own business at his residence.
I'll line up and take my flaming for this one. I know as a citizen I'm supposed to start saying 'yassa boss' as soon as the police tell me to do something but I don't play to that tune. I know I should respect their power and authority, I have a duty to grovel in their presence- but you know what? I'm just not that kind of man. I guess that makes me a piece of excrement or whatever but I ain't changing. Flame away.
Does a person have a civil duty to be polite to a judge? Try acting the fool like Gates in front of a judge and see what happens. I think a person DOES have the duty to be respectful of the police, no matter how wrong you think they are. You have a recourse if you feel you were wronged, it is called filing a complaint with the police dept after the incident is over. I think each police dept has a department called INTERNAL AFFAIRS which investigates this all the time.
Imagine if EVERYBODY acted towards the police the way Gates did in EVERY encounter with the police, from traffic stops, to house breakins, to domestic disputes, to murder investigations. I could care less if Gates was in his house or not, he should be happy the police are there to investigate a breakin when in point of fact the house had actually been BROKEN into before and there had been breakins in the neighborhood recently.
It is pathetic that people choose to prove their ‘manhood’ by getting in the face of police officers who risk their life every day to protect them. That kind of behavior is not manly, it is disgusting.
re: Why invite him outside?
Why not? The officer has every right to assure his own personal safety. The officer has no way of knowing if anyone else is in the house or if Gates has a gun hidden in a couch and is just waiting for a chance to go for it. At this point the officer is at a distinct disadvantage. He has done this long enough, and read enough after action reports of police officers who didn’t finish their shifts and go home, to know he could be in danger. And the behavior shown by Gates served only to heighten the officer’s defense mechanisms. The officer knows for a fact only what his senses tell him at this point. He is perfectly within his rights to ask the person to step outside where the officer is more in control of the situation. The officer asked, Gates refused with an insult and the officer left the house. Confrontation over. It was Gates who chose to extend the confrontation.
“I’ll line up and take my flaming for this one. I know as a citizen I’m supposed to start saying ‘yassa boss’ as soon as the police tell me to do something but I don’t play to that tune.”
And you see no difference between “yassa boss” and being civil? The whole thing didn’t need to happen. And wouldn’t have, if it was civil. But you have a right to remain the man you are...and so does the cop, who sounds like the same type. And there you are...