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What a Cop Is Supposed to Do
Steven Senne / AP Photo
A former New York City detective says that Sgt. James Crowley violated the oldest rule in the book: He lost his cool.
Read other takes on Gates' arrest from Daily Beast writers.
In New York City, police officers are dispatched by radio (Central dispatch) to what they call a “job” that can be anything from a homicide, to an accident, or, like the Henry Louis Gates incident, a possible burglary in progress. If no action is required at the scene, the police officer reports back to Central that the report was “unfounded.”
The Gates incident is a sad commentary on the state of racism that lives on in America. I was a police officer in New York during the tumultuous 1970s, but 30 years later I still hear the n-word used more often than I would like and from people supposedly more politically correct. The incident inside Mr. Gates' home is about racism on so many levels. The woman who called in the “supposed” break-in of two black men into a home in a predominately white area started the ball rolling. If they had been white men, would she have made the call? Only she can answer that.
Mr. Gates, who I am sure has suffered his share of racial prejudice over the years, reacted not just as so many of us would have had a police officer demanded that we produce our identification in our own home, but I would guess that his nastiness toward Sgt. Crowley was fueled by previous racial insults. One of the troubling factors about Sgt. Crowley loosing his cool with Mr. Gates is the fact that Mr. Gates uses a cane because he has a very serious handicap. I don’t think it has been reported, but because one leg is much shorter that the other, Mr. Gates wears one shoe that has a platform to compensate for the shortness of that leg. What the hell was the cop thinking?
Considering Gates’ age and disability, I would be hard put to find a cop who would not instantly dismiss any thoughts that Gates was a burglar or thief. Instead of trying to calm down Gates, Sgt. Crowley goes off and all hell breaks loose.
Years ago, I witnessed that type of stupidity up close. I remember responding to a report of a family dispute. When we arrived, the husband, who had been verbally abusing his wife, started to mouth off to my partner. The husband was huge; my partner had barely made the height requirement for the NYPD. The man started to walk menacingly toward my partner, who then reached into his holster for his Smith & Wesson .38. Fortunately, I jumped between the two idiots and eventually calmed down the situation, eventually sending the husband off to spend the night at a hotel.
There is no doubt that Sgt. Crowley felt personally challenged when Gates started mouthing off to him. If Gates had been white instead of black, would Crowley have acted differently? Only Crowley knows the answer to that. But Crowley was the one who is paid to keep his cool. That’s his job! He should have backed out of the house, called for a patrol supervisor, who in all probability would have settled everyone down, and that would have been that. Instead, he threw the cuffs on Gates and probably reported to Central that he had one male perp in custody. His report of the incident to Central should have been a simple “Unfounded.”
John Connolly is a former New York City detective turned journalist. He is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine, and is currently finishing a book called The Sin Eater on disgraced and imprisoned Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano.
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stevenadamswv
Sir, you said at least twice in your piece that Sgt. Crowley lost his cool. However, you failed to cite how he lost his cool. That's because only one person lost their cool, and that was Mr. Gates. That is reflected in the police report, as well as the statements from other officers (one of those officers being black). The majority of those with direct knowledge of this case have said that Crowley handled the matter by the book.
BasPos
Finally, a professional offering valid advice. Fortunately, President Obama was able to use his community organizer skills to return us to sanity.
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tct2525
Sir,
It's "losing his cool" not "loosing" (in 3rd graf).
Redhead5050
Yes, indeed. Sound advice from a seasoned professional.
menckenlite
Advice based on false facts. This NY officer is like the President speaking about what he does not know. How can the Daily Beast publish this stuff? The woman who made the initial call worked for Harvard Magazine for many years three houses down from Gates' house. She did not identify the color of the men she saw. She was unable to see their color for they had their backs to her. The real culprit is Harvard Real Estate which owns the house. They failed to repair the door while Gates was in China. Further this NY Cop generalizes about Gates because of his race. Gates is a multi millionaire Harvard professor. This was the first time he was ever arrested and he whines like a stuck pig. He was held for 4 hours in a room not a cell. Within a week the DA dropped the charges after pressure from politicians and Harvard academics. Has Gates suffered from racial abuse which kept him from achieving a high position in society? There is so much blindness among the sighted that it is appalling. Especially from a NY cop. Cambridge cops are so politically correct they threaten men who talk to women unless the man is black. They threaten white citizens who might not hire an illegal alien. You are clueless about about how depraved this city is.
Europeandesigner
You sound like a jealous very nasty person!
BasPos
It was four hours to drop the indictment. Your comment makes no sense.
Cymatic
He was arrested in his own home... the police officer had no legal right to be there. That is in the constitution. He showed the officer his identification, at that point the officer had to leave. It also sounds like the officer refused to give his badge number. It's not illegal to speak your mind, to a police officer - it is unwise, but not illegal. The police officer had no jurisdiction in a private home without a warrant. End of story.
ToniChicago
It doesn't matter whether the women knew the two men were African American or not; it doesn't matter how much racial abuse had been suffered in the past; the point is that a police officer's job is to diffuse such situations not escalate them.
Bunx05
For once, I agree with BasPos.
Proof God still works miracles. :c)
cleavetoo
Once again, you should really read the police report. You'll see that although Gates was a complete jerk, he committed no crime according to the police report that Crowley filed.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates1.html
olusegun
Sergeant Crowley was not responsible enough to have done the right thing..walk way
Tango121
Gates gave an interview two days after the arrest and stated "the officer turned his back to me and walked away and I followed him outside." Gates was arrested outside when his yelling caused a group to gather. Don't believe me check it out yourselves. The interview is posted online. Sgt. Crowley did try to walk away. You have to read more then one side to anything before deciding what the truth is.
cleavetoo
Crowley did not try to walk away, he stepped out onto the porch because he had no legal right to be in the home without a warrant. At that point, Crowley had already seen the I.D. He simply should have left the scene. Another officer could have given Gates the information he requested. Crowley claims in his police report that he attempted to give Gates this information at least 3 times but Gates never heard it. Gates was arrested on his porch. The neighbors had gathered because several police officers were at the home of one of their neighbors, something that would happen anywhere. Shouting, even at a police officer, from your front porch is not a good enough reason to arrest anyone.
tedtucson
Mr. Connolly summed it up perfectly. This is about power, or rather, the imbalance of power when discussing the police-citizen relationship. The police have all the chips. As such, they have a special burden to diffuse a situation when presented with some guff from an innocent citizen who is falsely suspected of committing a crime. As recommended above, when the officer realized no crime had been committed, end of story; the officer explains that the Cambridge police investigate all complaints that they take them seriously, and that they are there to help, not hurt. Thank the citizen, apologize for the inconvenience and move on. So what if Gates was verbally offensive to the officer. No doubt, if the shoe were on the other foot, the officer may have reacted similarly. This officer knew he needed to defuse, not escalate the situation but didn't. He had all the power in the exchange and failed to recognize when not to exercise that power. Good job Mr. Connolly.
BronxRobb
I agree that Sgt. Crowley should have diffused this situation and this should have been a non-incident.
Thanks, Mr. Connolly for a rational reading of this event.
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peppermint
Yep, should have known, Connolly works for the famous lib mag Vanity Fair. Already his column is in dispute because the 911 caller did not mention race, only 2 men trying to break in. How many more mistakes will Gates' defenders make in their remarks? They're gonna need a lot of beers to settle this one and maybe a chardonnay for the prez.
Bunx05
Here's one more. In his interview, Crowley says that the report was that 2 black men were breaking in. If she didn't mention race, why did he?
moosie
The cop is under "color of authority" not just representing himself but all of us. It's not ever even or fair and so a cop in the performance of his job must be professional. Crowley was not.
There was no burglary and he determined that and the event was over. He needed to leave and understand that the person who called it in from across the street was not only wrong, but had no idea what their neighbor looked like, which I find hard to believe.
Cops are also trained to not let it get personal on the job and to DE-ESCALATE. Why was he so untrained or untrainable?
He knew there was no burglary in progress and he did not apologize or bow out or get that he needed to get out of this man's living room/house. Instead, he arrested him and held the citizen for 4 hours. Pathetic, pitiful, pure ego p***ing contest, except that The sergeant is getting paid. And behind him is the authority of the law enforcement community.
webb04
The one with the power should ultimately keep control of the situation.
cbeenthere
Exactly.
spinozareader
Absolutely.
It's really up to the guy with the gun, mace, TASER, billy-club, and police power to keep his wits about him and diffuse such a situation.
And this from an officer who has supposed "expertise" in racial profiling....
Come on now. The job of a police officer is a tough one. But let's not use that fact as rationale to excuse "police-state" behavior on the part of our officers. Such a stance serves neither them, nor the citizens they've sworn "to serve and protect."
judgeinmillvalley
This piece is outdated. New information--and I don't know how "new" it really is, reports that the 911 did not mention race. In fact, she said she couldn't see anything but the backs of the two men. She said one might be Hispanic. I think that three people lost their cool: Gates, who was probably exhausted from the trip and frustrated at having to break in and leaped to conclusions that it was about race; the policeman, who should have moved on instead of getting into a standoff over a few words in someone else's home but out of pride and ego moved on to arrest; and Obama, who on center stage at a health care press conference should have stopped talking about the diverting Gates incident after saying that he didn't know the facts of the case. But these three people are human, thus emotional. Will everybody please calm down?
djanimaequeen
You first.
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pezmanifesto
what are you talking about a little personnal dont you think haha did some cop in a stripper bar make fun of you keep these rediculous opinions to your self and try to make some sense
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pezmanifesto
oh i apologize did i not utilize the level of the english language that is good enough for you sorry my terrible typing can be attributed to my resentment of my past boiling up
drgstrcwby
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-26/What-a-Cop-Is-Sup posed-to-Do#comment_165541
Cymatic, you don't know what the hell you are talking about.
pezmanifesto
cymatic is funny cops arent allowed to be in your home drgstrcwby what are you stupid havent you read the constitution after you show a cop your id he has to leave its reight after the preamble maybe you should do some reading
TheFact
A teaching moment?!?
THE CONSTITUTION SHOULD APPLY!
What they did to Professor Gates was wrong...
"Gates is a multi millionaire Harvard professor. This was the first time he was ever arrested and he whines like a stuck pig. He was held for 4 hours in a room not a cell. Within a week the DA dropped the charges after pressure from politicians and Harvard academics. Has Gates suffered from racial abuse which kept him from achieving a high position in society? ... menckenlite.
*How about many others folks are living in the country with the great fear to encounter with some cops? Every tree has its on bad root
"Nothing wrong at the beginning should be right at the end even under the pretext of the legality..."
No body is above the law?!?
They should take that out of the book and let it apply on the street. So, those who have sworn "to serve and protect." should do so.
A 911 call for "Breaking into some one's house should ever end on an arrest of the premise's owner which is a pre-eminent scholar, near the university for a:" disorderly conduct"It's more than an absurdity.
Cymantic is right... Why don't we follow the constitution in this teaching moment.?
Gates is very blessed and should keep in his mind while enjoying his beer that: The poor guy who was assassinated in the metro was less fortunate; There are many incidents accross the states, where the haters are harming those they suppose to serve and to protect. Seems like the victims are unfortunately the same people.
Sgt.Crowley might not be a hater, but he was wrong. He brooks the promise of its oath. He failed to serve and protect. Looks like an invasion!
Discrimination and racism are still a reality in our society; people are the one who are turning the blind eyes on.
The inverse of this incident will never happen
B.T.W. Is there a web site where they could share some experiences? You will be amazed about what are undergoing out there...
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