Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweet Pea
Let me preview this by saying I have been away for a few days. Haven't read the whole thread - and haven't been updated by the media regarding this situation.... However, while reading through this thread, the above comment just grabbed me and I couldn't resist responding before finishing my read.... I apologize if this has already been discussed......
Stew - you are cracking me up here! Obviously, you have never had someone you love take an oath to protect their city - put their life on the line every single day to fulfill that oath!
1) Night
2) Neighbor call someone breaking in
3) Yeah, right - we just calmly walk up to the door, knock and give a "courtesy call" to verify identity......
Officer: "Sir, we received a call that someone was breaking in here. Do you live here?"
Possible criminal: "Oh, yes I certainly do!
Officer: "Thank you kind sir. Sorry to have bothered you."
You think criminals always tell the truth???? 
Until someone you love dearly is the one putting their life on the line each and every day - you cannot understand what these men and women go through! Is there sometimes police abuse of power? Absolutely - however, from my knowledge of this situation, it appears that this officer has an impeccable record. When I catch up on the past three days news and if I find out differently, I will be back to apologize.
My problem with all this.............. All the professor had to do was present his ID (calmly and politely) when FIRST asked for it!!! Had this been me, I would have felt bad that I had caused the officers to be taken off the street to check out my situation - simply because I had "stupidly" locked myself out of my home.
Also......... as an aside, we were never allowed to use the word stupid or any derivative of it in our home. It went against my grain to type it in the above paragraph. For the POTUS to have described the Cambridge police department's actions as such overrode my mother's voice! He is a man totally without class to have used his position and spoken in such a manner! |
Sweet Pea, I actually do have many people close to me in law enforcement. I have brothers in my church as well who I know to be great officers. I do not for a second, though, take that as proof that every officer is good and right in how he or she approaches every situation.
I think that to try to infer that questioning one officer is somehow indicative of someone having no respect for any officer is unhealthy in a conversation like this. It's the old "you must not be a patriot if you question the decisions of the Commander-in-Chief" argument all over again.
a.) It was not night
b.) the point that many people are making is that upon arriving and seeing a well-dressed sixty year old man in the foyer, most people would have recognized that it was possibly not a break-in. Where people interject race into the conversation is when discussing whether the way the officer and the caller approached the situation may have been different. I do not presume to know this, but I will say that if did affect the way he was approached, it would not be the first time it happened.
I have also never intimated that I think the professor acted appropriately. I was not there and do not have an objective account of the events...but I am pretty confident that the professor was irate and loud.
You said "You think criminals always tell the truth????
"
Many say "Do you think the officer involved always tells the truth?"
Now obviously the officers are truthful more often than criminals...but at the same time, not everyone who has contact with the police is a "criminal"
I'm not one to assume that a police report is an unbiased, accurate description of events (I know officers who know how to word reports just right. It would be pretty foolish in my opinion for an officer to write a report that indicated wrongdoing on his part)
"While I was led to believe that Gates was lawfully in the residence, I was quite surprised and confused at the behavior he exhibited towards me.I asked Gates to provide me with photo identification so that I could verify that he resided at ______ and so that I could radio my findings to ECC. Gates initially refused, demanding that I show him identification, but then he did supply me with a Harvard University identification card. Upon learning that Gates was affiliated with Harvard, I radioed and requested the presence of the Harvard University Police"
The simple question that many people are asking is why after Gates had provided ID, was the officer continuing to remain in the house...and in fact call for backup?
Once they found out it was Gate’s house, they should have left immediately, yelling or not. Cops aren’t special humans who can’t be yelled at...particularly when they are mistaken and you have complied with their orders sufficiently in your own house.
I have never once attempted to defend Obama's or Gate's actions. My question has been about whether he should have been arrested at his house...and how much of the story might not be reflected in either the police report or Gates' account. The truth may lie somewhere in the middle.
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