The Gates Controversy

So this whole thing between Professor Gates and Sgt. Crowley has got a whole bunch of people riled up. Seems to me like a situation where bad attitudes all around made the whole situation worse than it was supposed to be.

I think it's a fair assessment that both Professor Gates and Sgt. Crowley let their frustration dictate the situation. Gates was probably irritable from his flight and his jammed door, and Crowley was probably annoyed as hell by the whole situation. However, the expectation for Crowley is a lot higher, and here's why.

Crowley is a cop. He is expected to meet the highest standards of professionalism because he is given the authority, as an enforcer of law, to detain private citizens and to carry a lethal weapon. To strip away an individual's freedom and/or physical well-being, no matter the degree, is no small amount of responsibility. With that responsibility comes the very high expectation that it be used in the appropriate manner and in the appropriate amount.

Is race involved? It's a possibility. Would Crowley have arrested an older white man in his home if he was berating Crowley for being a government thug or for being a jerk? We don't know, since we don't have anything from Crowley to compare it to (for now anyway), and Crowley does have a record that suggests that this was not racially motivated. At its very worst, this scenario shows hidden prejudices that *may* exist in Sgt. Crowley's perspective.

HOWEVER, at its very best, this scenario shows an abuse of power.

-From http://www.masscriminaldefense.com/disorderly.htm

"A disorderly person is defined as one who:
* with purpose to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or
* recklessly creates a risk thereof
* engages in fighting or threatening, violent or tumultuous behavior, or
* creates a hazard or physically offensive condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose."

Arresting an individual person for "disorderly conduct" makes sense if it was a bunch of rowdy kids playing loud music in the street at 3am, or if two neighbors are loudly arguing on the sidewalk with each other and they were cussing like sailors. In essence, an arrest for "disorderly conduct" should really only apply IF there is someone present who complains about the disruption coming from the people who are causing the ruckus AND those people refuse to change their behavior in a manner that would satisfy the complainant. In this case, even if I were to say that Sgt. Crowley was on his best behavior, Professor Gates was in the vicinity of his home arguing with the cop ABOUT the cop's behavior. Crowley should have just left once he verified that Gates was the person who he claimed to be. Crowley would've been justified in his charge of "disorderly conduct" ONLY if Gates started knocking on his neighbors' doors demanding them to side with him, or trying to locate the person who called the cops, or doing something that ACTUALLY disrupts the neighbors.

If Crowley arrested Gates simply because Gates was badgering him, that is an abuse of power. I'm not saying that cops don't have a hard job. I believe they do. However, being a cop is like being Britney Spears. People are going to talk shit. People are going to get in your face. If you can't handle the criticism, don't be a cop. As an officer of the law and as a person sanctioned by the state to carry a loaded weapon, cops have to be able to differentiate between their own emotions and frustrations, and the ACTUAL COMMISSION OF A CRIME.

Sorry officers. You don't get to arrest people you think are annoying.