The Harvard Professor and the Police Officer

On July 16, a woman in Gates' Cambridge neighborhood called authorities to report two black men attempting a home robbery. Turns out there was no robbery in progress. The black men were Harvard Professor Gates and his driver, and the home in question belonged to the noted academic. The duo resorted to jimmying the door open because it was stuck but managed to get inside through the back door. However, when police arrived on scene and found Gates there, they asked him to provide identification to prove that he was the homeowner.

After viewing his ID and confirming that Gates indeed lived in the home, Cambridge Police arrested Gates anyway, citing disorderly conduct on his part. After the charges against the professor became public, though, the police department dropped them, calling the arrest "unfortunate and regrettable." (www.abcnews.go.com)

Despite the department's decision to drop the charges, Obama is being criticized for characterizing the arresting officer's behavior (not the officer himself) as stupid. The President's critics argue that he shouldn't have spoken without knowing all of the facts. Well, I argue that Obama didn't need to know all the facts. By dropping the charges and calling Gates' arrest regrettable, the Cambridge Police Department is admitting to wrongdoing, or "acting stupidly," as Obama so bluntly put it.

It would be another matter if the police had not dropped the charges. But by doing so, they are admitting to bad behavior on their part, however slight. What remains in dispute is whether Cambridge Police committed the act of racial profiling when arresting Gates. They deny this charge. According to them, the officer who arrested Gates--Sgt. James Crowley--has even trained other officers to avoid racial profiling. As for Obama, he never directly accused Crowley of arresting Gates due to his race. His exact words were: "What I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact." (thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com)

For the record, Gates has disputed Cambridge Police's description of him, saying that he complied with all of Sgt. Crowley's requests. The fact that the department dropped the charges against the professor only serves to make him more credible. Yet, a vocal segment of the public continues to accuse Gates of wrongdoing. And, now, the President has been accused of wrongdoing for speaking ...