James Crowley
The Cambridge Review Committee, which investigated last July’s arrest of Harvard University scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. by Officer James Crowley has issued it's report PDF. The strenuously even-handed independent review panel concludes that being “disrespectful” to police in your own home, even if you’re cooperating with an inquiry, is now grounds for arrest.
Adam Serwer writes:
Charles Hayes is an Alaska denizen, former Dallas police officer, and author of some very thoughtful books about adult learning and lifespan development. His commentary on the Gates-Crowley incident is perhaps the most insightful I've read. Hayes ultimately concludes that Crowley erred and Gates likely committed no crime, but he does so with a calm voice. You don't have to agree with his conclusion to draw understanding from his observations. Here are some snippets, but the short essay is worth reading in its entirety:
Sure, we should treat the cops with respect and society shouldn't encourage people to be reflexively hostile to police. They have a tough job, and we should all be properly respectful of people who are doing a dangerous and necessary job for the community. But when a citizen doesn't behave well, if not illegally, as will happen in a free society, it is incumbent upon the police, the ones with the tasers and the handcuffs and the guns, to exercise discretion wisely and professionally. And when they don't, we shouldn't make excuses for them.
Defenders of Crowley seem to want to fall in line with an assumption that police authority is legitimate (or at least insurmountable) irrespective of law;
Defenders of Gates seem to want to see the practical application of police authority be bound by the relevant law.
-Hmmm.
What's your take?
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