PROFILED

Henry Louis Gates Jr. Details Arrest

Harvard academic blasts "rotten" system.

Looks like Henry Louis Gates Jr. will be using his first-hand experience with the "rotten" criminal justice system in a project examining how cops treat black men and women differently from their white counterparts. "I hope to make a documentary about racial profiling for PBS. [The idea] had never crossed my mind but it has now," Gates told The Washington Post in an exclusive interview. The Harvard academic also gives new details on his arrest. He said he repeatedly demanded that one officer give his name, and that when he stepped outside of his house and demanded the information from six other cops, they arrested him. Gates time in the slammer was a traumatic experience. "I have mild claustrophobia. The jail cell was very claustrophobic," Gates said. The city of Cambridge and the police department, in full damage-control mode, released a joint statement calling the arrest "regrettable and unfortunate" and said the criminal charges would be dropped.