Another Cambridge Cop In Racial Incident

More Cambridge Police Dept. Drama

Video: Police release 911 tapes from Gates arrest - WWLP.com

The Cambridge Police Department is not having a good month. Already under fire for racially profiling African-American, Harvard professor, Henry Louis Gates Jr., they are now facing another race based incident.

Gates Jr. and Crowley to meet with Obama tomorrow

Cambridge police officer, Justin Barrett, has been suspended for sending out a mass email, referring to professor Gates as a "jungle monkey" which is a very derisive racial slur for black people.

Justin Barrett

There is another unverified photo online of a Cambridge Police officer entering his vehicle with a racially tinged personalized license plate. These three incidents give off a very negative vibe about the Cambridge Police Department when it comes to race issues.

Henry Louis Gates Jr.

911 caller, Lucia Whalen, also spoke publicly today, denouncing the conduct of arresting officer James Crowley, who put words in her mouth regarding the wrongful arrest of Gates, stating she volunteered information about the race of the alleged suspects, when tapes later revealed she did not. Whalen has been threatened and harassed thanks to Officer Crowley's untruths. Poor lady.

James Crowley

The important thing to remember is there are many good cops out there, not just in America, but all over the world. However, it is rather sad when the actions of a few taint the badge.

Don't they look alike:

James Crowley	Michael Imperioli (actor)

Just like reporters are compelled to use truth in reporting, officers should be as well, as authoring false police reports is corrupt.

Officer suspended for Gates slur in e-mail

July 29, 2009 07:35 PM - An officer in the Boston Police Department was suspended yesterday for allegedly writing a racially charged e-mail about Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. to colleagues at the National Guard, a law enforcement official said. Mayor Thomas M. Menino compared the officer to a cancer and said he is "gone, g-o-n-e'' from the force.

The law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Officer Justin Barrett referred to the black scholar as a "jungle monkey" in the letter, written in reaction to media coverage of Gates's arrest July 16.

Barrett, a 36-year-old who has been on the job for two years, was stripped of his gun and badge yesterday and faces a termination hearing in the next week, said police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll. He has no previous disciplinary record, she said.

"Yesterday afternoon, Commissioner Davis was made aware that Officer Barrett was the author of correspondence which included racially charged language," she said. "At that time, Commissioner Davis immediately stripped Officer Barrett of his gun and badge, and at this time we will be moving forward with the hearing process." ...

http://www.boston.com

Caller Says She Didn’t Mention Race to Officer in Gates Case

July 29, 2009 - CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Lucia Whalen, whose 911 call led to the arrest of the Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home, made her first public comments Wednesday, saying at no time did she ever mention race to the responding police officer.

Ms. Whalen, 40, her voice cracking, said she was deeply hurt by the reaction to the incident on July 16...

“When I was called a racist, I was the target of scorn and ridicule because of things I never said,” she told the reporters gathered in a park here at midday. She added, “The criticism hurt me as a person but also hurt the community of Cambridge.” ...

http://www.nytimes.com

Discrepancies In Cambridge Cop Report Pt 2

Obama to meet with Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Officer James Crowley

Discrepancies galore have cropped up in the racial profiling case of Harvard professor, Henry Louis Gates Jr, due to Cambridge police officer, James Crowley, being caught in several lies, via a corrupted report he filed on the incident.

As covered yesterday, Officer Crowley claimed Professor Gates told him, "I'll talk to your mama outside" and also wrote he did not furnish him with a State ID/drivers license, which has been disputed.

Henry Louis Gates Jr.

The citizen, Lucia Whalen, who did her civic duty, in calling in what she thought was a break-in, not only refutes meeting and speaking with Officer Crowley, she also stated she did not tell him it was a black man breaking an entry, which is supported by the 911 tapes released yesterday.

James Crowley

It is unlawful to lie in a police report and it is conduct worthy of disciplinary action to the offending officer. While I do agree there needs to be racial reconciliation and forgiveness in this case, all color issues aside, Officer Crowley's dodgy report needs to be addressed.

Telling tall tales in such a document is a serious offense, not permissible by a cop of any race or nationality, anywhere in the world. Two people, Professor Gates and the witness, Lucia Whalen, are stating he is lying.

911 caller in Gates arrest never referred to 'black suspects'

(CNN) -- The woman who made the 911 call that led to the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. never referred to black suspects when she called authorities for what she thought was a potential break-in.
Sgt. Jim Crowley was the arresting officer. The woman who called police said she didn't mention race.

Sgt. Jim Crowley was the arresting officer. The woman who called police said she didn't mention race.

...Attorney Wendy Murphy, who represents Whalen, also categorically rejected part of the police report that said Whalen talked with Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting officer, at the scene.

"Let me be clear: She never had a conversation with Sgt. Crowley at the scene," Murphy told CNN by phone. "And she never said to any police officer or to anybody 'two black men.' She never used the word 'black.' Period."

She added, "I'm not sure what the police explanation will be. Frankly, I don't care. Her only goal is to make it clear she never described them as black. She never saw their race. ... All she reported was behavior, not skin color."...

http://www.cnn.com

Gates, Crowley meeting at White House set for 6 p.m. Thursday

July 28, 2009 12:48 PM - Pop the caps. Let the amber-colored liquids flow. Start the dialogue.

That's what President Obama is looking to do when he meets with Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and James Crowley, the Cambridge police sergeant who arrested him, at the White House.

The meeting has been set for 6 p.m. Thursday, a White House official said this morning.

http://www.boston.com

Discrepancies In Cambridge Cop Report

Why are you asking me about this

The Associated Press published an op-ed piece, detailing items in the police report of police officer, James Crowley, who racially profiled African American Harvard Professor, Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Professor Gates stated he did not tell Officer Crowley “I’ll speak to your mama outside” as was widely reported. However, officer Crowley has it in his report. Gates also stated he furnished the officer with two forms of ID, a state drivers license and Harvard university identification, but Crowley’s report only states the latter. Significant discrepancies, if you ask me.

James Crowley

In order to move on, a town that has experienced very notable, publicized cases of racial profiling, needs to explore what truly transpired, obtain the facts and work towards such issues not happening again.

Video: City Manager: 'Today Is the Day to Move Forward' - The Associated Press

Analysis: What they saw during the Gates arrest

Henry Louis Gates Jr. felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he looked across the threshold of his home at Sgt. James Crowley. Looking back at Gates, Crowley worried about making it home safely to his wife and three children.

Fear was the only thing the white police officer and black scholar had in common. Soon their many differences would collide, exploding into a colossal misunderstanding...

"During the renovation workers would often take Gates for a servant and ask to be pointed to the house's owner. The drivers of delivery trucks made the same mistake."

"The message was unmistakable: What was a black man doing living in a place like this?" Fish wrote.

So when Gates hears Crowley ask him to step outside, he sees history. How could he not?

"All the hairs stood up on the back of my neck, and I realized that I was in danger," Gates said later. "And I said to him no, out of instinct. I said, 'No, I will not.'"

Crowley asks Gates to prove he lives there.

Looking out his front door, Gates sees someone who should be asking, "Is everything all right, sir?" He sees someone who would not doubt that a 58-year-old, gray-haired Harvard professor lived in this home — if he were white.

Gates sees a racist.

Gates leaves the front door to get his identification. Crowley follows him inside. Gates says he provided a driver's license with the address of the home they were standing in; Crowley's police report only mentions a Harvard ID...

Gates continues to demand that Crowley provide his name and badge number.

Crowley said in his report that he had already told Gates his name, twice, but Gates was yelling too much to hear him. Gates said Crowley ignored his demands.

Gates doesn't let up. Crowley says he'll talk to Gates outside. Then he says something Crowley understands perfectly, boiling down his 2,095 pages of "Africana" down into one cry of resistance:

"I'll speak with your mama outside," he said, according to the police report. Gates denies making the remark...

http://www.google.com

The President, The Professor And The Police Officer

A President, A Professor And A Cop Walk Into A Bar... Drinks At The White House Video: Black Scholar Accepts White House Meeting Offer - The Associated Press President Barack Obama has invited friend and Harvard professor, Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge Police officer, James Crowley, to meet with him for a drink at the White House. The meeting centers on an incident of racial profiling that occurred recently, regarding Officer Crowley, arresting Professor Gates, for allegedly disturbing the peace. Henry Louis Gates Jr. Crowley, responded to a call regarding what looked like a break-in at the Professor's residence, when in actuality, Gates was trying to unjam his front door, after returning home from overseas. The two men argued in the professor's kitchen. Gates took offense at Crowley's attitude and allegations, especially his resistance in furnishing him with his name and badge number. Crowley decided he was going to get even. Based on what I read today regarding the police report, I get the impression, in order to make the highly questionable arrest, Crowley engaged in entrapment, demanding an upset and offended Gates come outside to the porch to speak with him. The minute Gates stepped out on his own porch, Crowley, slapped handcuffs on him, stating he was disturbing the peace, also known as entrapment. Crowley lured him onto the porch with the sole intent of a vengeful arrest on his own property. James Crowley I have respect for the police, but I do not respect what Officer Crowley did in arresting a 58-year-old professor that walks with a cane, on his own porch, for daring to exercise his right to free speech. Such conduct fosters mistrust among the public regarding law enforcement. When millions of young minorities read such stories, it does not encourage them to trust the police. Gates' Liberal College Town No Stranger to Racial Dust-Ups Racism Allegations in Recent Past at Harvard and MIT in Cambridge, Mass. ATLANTA, July 25, 2009 - The arrest of an African-American professor at his home near Harvard University gives a rare view into racial tensions in a seemingly unlikely place: America's ivory tower and its liberal environs... At least in the popular mind, flare-ups between police and minorities tend to occur in the 'hoods and barrios of poverty-ridden American cities. But the liberal bastion of Cambridge, Mass. (per capita income: $31,156; black population: 12 percent), the home of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has its own complex encounters with racial attitudes. Five years ago, Harvard's S. Allen Counter, a black professor of neuroscience, was stopped by Harvard campus police in what many saw as a racial-profiling incident. About three years later, an assistant professor at MIT, James Sherley, raised a ruckus over his failure to get tenure, a decision that he claimed was race-based. Those claims were never proved, but MIT has embarked on what it calls the Initiative on Faculty Race and Diversity to address the university's problems in hiring black faculty. And last week, Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested after one of his neighbors called police saying that two black men were trying to break into Gates' house. The scholar, who had a tense encounter with the police, was charged with disorderly conduct... http://abcnews.go.com Arrest of Gates also shines a light on 'disorderly conduct' laws July 25, 2009 - In Massachusetts and other states, such laws give police wide power to arrest someone acting abusively toward them in public. Reporting from Washington -- For some defense lawyers, the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was less about racial profiling than about how persons can be arrested simply for speaking angry words to a police officer. The laws against "disorderly conduct" give police wide power to arrest people who are said to be disturbing the peace or disrupting the neighborhood. In Massachusetts and elsewhere, courts have said the "disorderly acts or language" must take place in public where others can be disturbed. It is probably not a crime of disorderly conduct for a homeowner, standing in his own kitchen, to speak abusively to a police officer. According to his police report, Sgt. James Crowley said the professor was "yelling very loud" and "accusing me of being a racist." Complaining that the "acoustics of the kitchen" made it difficult to communicate, the officer said he "told Gates that I would speak with him outside." Once on the front porch, the officer arrested Gates for being loud and abusive in the presence of several neighbors who had gathered on the sidewalk. "You might think that in the United States, you have a right to state an opinion, even an offensive opinion. But prosecutors like to say you don't have a right to mouth off to the police," said Boston defense lawyer Samuel Goldberg. "Gates was saying, 'You are hassling me because I'm black.' I understand how that's offensive to a police officer. "It's astounding to me to call it criminal." Police officers can arrest people in their own homes for accosting police, interfering with an investigation or resisting a lawful arrest. But Gates was not accused of interfering with an investigation. "I would say it is not constitutional to arrest someone in his home just for being loud and abusive to a police officer," said Boston University law professor Tracey Maclin. "That's why the cop asked him to come outside, where he could be arrested for being disorderly in public."... http://www.latimes.com Black scholar accepts White House meeting offer BOSTON — Black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. says he will accept President Barack Obama's invitation to visit him at the White House along with the white police officer who arrested the Harvard professor. Gates told the Boston Globe in an e-mail late Friday that he spoke to Obama and said he would meet with Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley. Gates said he hoped his arrest by Crowley leads to greater sensitivity on racial profiling and that it was time to "move on." http://www.google.com

Obama Denounces Racial Profiling Of Professor

President Barack Obama denounced the racial profiling and arrest of Harvard professor and friend, Henry Louis Gates Jr., who was detained by Cambridge Police, on what were very flimsy charges.

After returning home from a trip to China, America's preeminent black scholar, Gates, used a key to enter his house from the backdoor, after realizing the front entry was jammed.

As he tried to open the jammed door from inside his house, the police entered the property and a very unpleasant exchange ensued.

In spite of the fact he showed them two forms of ID, his drivers license and a Harvard identification, he was carted off to jail.

Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Previously, a black journalist sued the City of New York and won, after police officers arrested him for breaking into his own car, when he was unable to locate his keys, in spite of the fact he showed them valid identification and presented ownership of the vehicle.

What is this? Keys-don't-work-go-to-jail year.

Obama spoke of the fact more blacks and Latinos are pulled over by the police, than whites, lamenting the disparities.

As I stated yesterday, Gates should sue. According to Boston.com today, he is considering it. They should provide financial compensation for the traumatic, embarrassing and distressing event they created in his life.

Obama: Cambridge police acted 'stupidly'

July 22, 2009 - After spending most of an hour patiently reiterating his arguments for changing the health insurance system, President Barack Obama turned his press conference sharply toward an iconic moment in American race relations: The arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. earlier this week by the Cambridge Police.

Gates was arrested for allegedly disorderly conduct -- a charge that was quickly dropped -- after a confrontation with a police officer inside his own home. Though some facts of the case are still in dispute, Obama showed little doubt about who had been wronged.

http://www.politico.com

Gates considering lawsuit over his arrest

July 22, 2009 11:48 AM - Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. said this morning that he has not ruled out the possibility of filing a lawsuit over his arrest last week.

“Oh yeah, I’m considering a lawsuit, sure,” the noted scholar told a Globe reporter in a phone interview from Martha’s Vineyard, a day after authorities agreed to drop a disorderly conduct charge against him. “Wouldn’t you?”...

http://www.boston.com