Americanpolitics

The fact that all charges were immediately dropped against Harvard Professor, Henry Louis Gates Jr., speaks volumes on the subject of whether or not the officer involved, Sergeant James Crowley, overreacted. Officers should be trained to diffuse negativity but instead, in a lot of cases involving minorities, they provoke negativity.

I did not witness what happened in the Gates case however I have, on some occasions, felt compelled to stop my car, get out and watch as officers have taken on arrogant attitudes while dealing with suspected minorities. To be suspected when you have done nothing wrong is one thing, to be disrespect is another but to be disrespected in your own home, after doing nothing wrong, is on a totally different level.

The fact that the Officer involved refused to apologize after viewing identification with Gates picture and address on it but instead requested that Gates “step outside” speaks to his attitude and his intention. Public servants should be void of ego but police officers seldom are when dealing with minorities. Public servants should have enough tact to diffuse most situations by showing respect to the person they are dealing with but officers seldom do when dealing with minorities.

Even now as Gates requests an apology from the officer involved, the officer refuses to apologize, which again speaks loudly of who he is regardless of who appointed him diversity trainer. I have been a “Public Servant” for the majority of my life and I know that some people are just “out there” with attitude on the tip of their tongue, waiting to argue, sometimes justified, sometimes not but it is never my place, as a public servant, to engage in arguments with the public I serve, nor should it be the “place” of an officer, carrying a gun, to engage in arguments with the people they serve.

Contrary to what facts where presented, by Officer Crowley, the very real fact that all charges were dropped, but not before Professor Gates was fingerprinted and a mug shot taken, speaks loudly as to whether a “crime” was genuinely committed. This process perpetrated was solely to bring Professor Gates, a minority who may have shown a little too much ego, a little too much indignation, in the mind of the officer, down a notch.

As I watched the news yesterday, I heard a guest speaker relate, the very real concept that even regarding medical care there is a great deal of “subconscious” racial tendencies that occur in dealing with minorities. I had to agree with this view point because, logically speaking, if a person grows up thinking they are “better” than a minority, even if they attempt to practice or live their lives in acceptance of that minority, they will, unconsciously, show signs of superiority.

By the same token, once you have repeatedly been on the receiving end of this superior attitude you tend to become “hypersensitive” to the attitude and sometimes it becomes hard to distinguish what is “intentional” and what is “learned” – either way, the feelings you experience, being on the receiving end, are the same and it is hard to take.

Cambridge Police Commissioner, Robert C. Haas, has said that Sergeant Crowley “acted in a way that was consistent with his training in the department and with national standards of law-enforcement protocol” and if this is true then protocol should be revised to involve sensitivity, respect, patience, understanding, tact and a willingness to say simple words like “I’m sorry about the misunderstanding.” Protocol should involve knowing when to draw the line on arresting people who have not committed a crime, protocol should involve knowing when to walk away.

Being a police officer is a hard job and each day when you leave home there is that possibility that you may not make it back home but the choice was yours to make to become a police officer. You make that choice fully aware of the dangers and the rudeness that will possibly be directed at you. It is the responsibility of the officer to gain control of the situation, to attempt to diffuse anger – not become part of it.

While Obama said the officer acted stupidly, I say he brought arrogance to the situation, an arrogance that he is still showing in his refusal simply to say “sorry.”

And that’s the way I see it!!!!!

Charlton Kings Hotel

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