Bennett on Gates' arrest on quickly dropped charges: "You often arrest to cool down the situation"
July 26, 2009 12:44 pm ET
From the July 26 edition of CNN's State of the Union:
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here is another option: The cop says, "I'm sorry to have upset you, sir, have a nice day," and walks away. Hmmm, that might have worked.
You guys love the whole freedom of speech thing, as long as it protects right wing talk show hosts.
Obama was right about one thing however, cooler heads should have prevailed, and it should have started with Gates.
It makes absolutely no difference at all whether Gates was over-reacting or not. Crowley made it clear that he believed Gates lived in the house. He never said anything about suspecting a burglar hiding in the house or a hostage situation (which would be absurd anyway, since Crowley saw Gates in his foyer, apparently on the phone). So once it's clear that there's no crime, he can and should leave, instead of sticking around to argue while calling in more cops. If you can't handle someone talking back to you in their own house, you shouldn't be in a position of authority.
And of course, nobody has suggested that the police shouldn't have been there at all. Gates clearly took issue with the way he was approached, as he was asked to exit the house as if he was a suspect of something.
And I did hear Crowley state that one reason he asked Gates to come out of the house was because even though Gates probably was the owner there could have been people in the house unknown to him.
The police were at his location to protect his property and perhaps his well being. Instead of being grateful for that , he choose to play the victim and accuse the cops of racism. He could have chosen to show his fellow black people that the cops are not their enemies and been co-operative. He did not. As a prominent black man of achievement he should be a better example to his people. Instead he demonstrated that he believes that confrontation is the way to deal with the police. That just perpetuates the problem.
It takes two people to argue. That's the point. Crowley could have just left if he felt so abused. None of you apologists have provided any argument as to what compelled him to stay on the premises after the identification was shown.
If it didn't take long between the call and the arrival, then it's not very likely that someone broke in and the owner then came home without noticing something wrong in the meantime. Wouldn't the first question be "We got a report of two people breaking into your house, do you know anything about that?" If the answer is "no", then ask him to come out so the premises can be secured.
Again, it is utterly irrelevant how Gates behaved unless he threatened or hit Crowley. Police are supposed to be professionals who can handle this sort of situation. I haven't seen anyone tell me why that isn't true, either. I'm sure you'll be the first.
Read the police report...http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates1.html
Crowley could have left after getting identification. Nothing compels him to stay a moment longer.
There was no reason to call Harvard University Police.
Police are supposed to be able to handle situations, not get wrapped up in unnecessary arguments.
Gates was owed Crowley's badge number, one way or another, but Crowley made exiting the house a condition of further discussion. Gates request was lawful.
Even if Gates did continue arguing outside, the charges are still weak.
You can say "by the book" all day long, and that doesn't magically make it true. It would be more effective to make some attempt at refuting those points.
Can you say overkill?!
Arrest somebody to cool down the situation? What tripe. Even if you buy the idea that Gates needed cooling down--arresting him was a dumb move.
Was the public in danger? Nope. Gates and the cane he needs to walk hardly makes him a menace to society. We're they in any danger? Nope. Three guns, three batons and likely a laser or two beats an old guy with a cane.
They simply got their panties in a knot because they felt he didn't show them respect. Tough. If you don't like getting yelled at then being a cop probably isn't a good job choice.
Formally arrested someone--putting then in cuffs, reading them their rights, taking them to the police station and taking a mugshot of them--is hardly a smart way of cooling someone off or gaining their respect.
Your point and my point above can't be repeated enough. I think it needs to seep into people's consciousness that Gates did go through something extremely humiliating.
And the charges being dropped was a fait accompli from the beginning. So no arrest should have been made.
If that is the case, why did they drop the charges? If he did nothing wrong, they should have kept the charges in place, and gone to court, like you said above.
That is, if they really think he did nothing wrong.
On another note, cops sometimes seem to have a distinct lack of knowledge about certain laws. For example, I am a cyclist, have been for many years. I can't tell you how many times a cop has stopped, or called for me and or me and a friend of mine to pull over while we were out riding. Why? Because we were riding 2 abreast on the side of the road, and that's illegal. Which, in North Carolina, it isn't. I've had many an argument about that one.
Just because someone is a police officer, doesn't mean they know the laws in and out.
Why does CNN allow this guy to be an "analyst"?
Not exactly (bold mine):
That being said, I wasn't impressed with his defense of this incident at all. I thought I understood it as I explained above, but in the end he did make himself look like a bigot.
Gates could easily sue for false arrest. He probably shouldn't but he have pretty much an open and shut case.
'cuff 'em Dano.
I hope that index finger of his falls off.
Randy
"You often arrest to cool down the situation"
Translated from bigot talk:
"You often arrest anytime someone gets uppity with you"
"You often arrest anytime someone trys to assert their rights"
"You often arrest anytime you are having a bad day and feel the need to take it out on someone else"
I could go on but; you get the gist.