Do you think the Cambridge Police handled the Henry Louis Gates Jr. arrest correctly?

What next Obama , its seems that since you have been in the white house you've done nothing but having fun like date night for the wife which cost over thousands of dollars wasted on helicopter rides that cost military lots of money to execute in the air Invititing friends over to have a BEER since when did the white house turn into a frat house and giving letuctures about nonsence yeah you made history for being the first black president (oops am I aloud to say black ) because i dont want to affend anyone or be racial or anything BUT ITS TIME TO STOP PARTYing and start BEING A PRESIDENT start doing what u told this country that u was going to do instead of breaking ur promises , We have more serious problems in this country and you avertising that your have a blast in the white house isnt giving the citizens of the united states much confidence in you , What kind of role model are you teaching your girls in the first place your bad reactions will reflect against your children when they grow and try to run for woman president themselves your actions are going to reflect them as they get older So i suggest you step your game up or next election wont be pretty when the democratice party looses because the actions you choose to do ........GROW UP STOP ACTING LIKE YOUR A YOUNG COLLEGE STUDENT AND START ACTING LIKE SOMEONE WHO IS SUPPOSE TO BE OUR COMMANDER N CHIEF OF THE UNITED STATES . so therefor if a war happens to break out you wont be another BIL CLINTON

Wow! How profound, how grammar-challenged, how punctuation-challenged, and observationally incorrect you were in your rantings about President Obama's accomplishments!
You are so focused on the things that he, dares to, enjoy about his position, (which, by the way, is the most challenging job in the world) that you have failed to recognize that he fights a difficult battle, daily, to fix the mess left behind by the previous administration. Had you considered that? Apparantly not! Your personal blinders are angled a bit to narrowly, therefore, blocking out the truth.
It must also be pointed out that should you chose to put your verbal bashing, of the most powerful man in the free world, in written form, it's best to consult a dictionary, a thesaurus or simply use the spell/grammar check on your computer. Thereby, putting a more intelligent spin on unintelligiblle, unnecessary, narrow-minded dribble.

Bravo @ Bears No Bull
citizen of the united states statements were ridiculous, to say the least. Then again, all the people who don't like Obama and refuse to even give him a chance are incessantly chomping at the bit to post something hateful and ignorant whenever they get a chance. Shows a lot about their character...

The Police Officer did his job. The professor was not shot, tackled, beaten, or tazered. The Police Officer asked questions and the homeowner, in a typical criminal type manner of feigning, became obnoxious and uncooperative until he was arrested. The Police were obviously uniformed, while the "innocent" unknown professor was acting like a jerk and refusing to comply with lawful requests. Guess the professor saw an oppertunity to have his fifteen minutes of fame, being friends with the President. The President should not comment on law enforcement/community issues until he receives all pertinant information from both sides. I have been stopped several times by Police, complied with lawful orders, and released with an apology. Maybe the professor should act like the educated person he is, instead of some idiot who doesn't know better.

citizen of the united states has got his head stuck up russ limbaughs' butt! unaware or uneducated or just plain mean and stupid! it's had for me to accept, but i do my best.

He was properly arrested, and then charges dropped. In the 1960s, it was a badge of honor to protest, and be arrested. This story needs to be dropped.

Thank you, retired lawman. Yes. The police officer did his job. And he was fully backed up in his actions by his co-worker, a black officer. I understand that the arresting officer opened his mic when the professor became uncooperative. So release the recording of that conversation, and we will see who the real racist is. As to the President, the only thing stupid was the stupidity of his remarks. He had no facts and really stepped in it. As Dennis Miller commented, it was an "interesting insight" into to the mind of the President.

My husband is a policeman of 30 years. Once Dr. Gates identified himself as the resident of the house, the police should have left with apologies. If my husband arrested every person who was upset and yelling at him when he responded to a possible home break in, the jails would be busting. No one likes to be accused of breaking and entering their own home, much less someone who is tired from traveling across 8 time zones. Dr. Gates' response should not nulify years of work as a peace maker and scholar dealing with racial divides. Police are expected to enforce the law, not respond with emotion.

The police officer should not go to the White House and become a part of the big show - photo op for Gates and his old buddy.

Looks like a lot of rednecks voted in this poll and we had posts from "citizen of the United States" and "retired lawman" to verify that. The "retired lawman" showed his racism by calling a Professor from Harvard a " typical criminal type." What I saw was a typical cop who thought because he had a uniform and a gun he was someone to be reckoned with- totally overlooking the diminutive brain powering that image. The Professor proved he lived there. That's all the information the redneck cop needed. Newspapers need to stop calling that ignorant excuse for a cop an expert in racial profiling. Teaching a class in racial profiling does not make him an expert. He was probably assigned to teach that class because of his racism. That's how Law Enforcement tries to rehabilitate the losers working for them.

Obviously Professor Gates does not know the definition of racial profiling. Sargent Crowley was responding to a call of a possible break-in of a home by two black men. What did he find at the home when he arrived?..... two black men. That is not racial profiling. With regard to our half black president, he first indicates he doesn't have all the facts about the case and then rambles on about racial profiling. If Gates and Obama are the best Harvard has to offer, we are all in BIG TROULBE. I think Obama showed his real feelings.

We probably will not know exactly who was right and who was wrong. But for a President to make insulting comments without knowing all the facts, and short of a public apology, is unacceptble.

Gates went on a rant, which he should not have done. The officer arrested him, which he probably should not have done. Obama spoke out of turn which he should not have done. Nobody is perfect. They will have a beer and probably laugh about how silly the whole thing is and then we can all move on, hopefully.

If Gates had complied with the officers request to id himself to begin with and then be grateful that first and neighbor saw someone breaking into his home, and obviously didn't recognize Gates, and called the police which was the proper thing to do, and then Gates should have been thankful that a neighbor called and the police responded. What if it had actually been someone breaking and entering, then neighbor called, the police, and the police did not respond.....Guess who would have been yelling then? Of course, the idiot Gates. Yelling because the police didn't answer the call because it was just the home of a black person being burglarized. Gates needs to aplogize and be thankful. His whining was just another opportunity to keep the race fires burning!!!!

The reason covert racial problems still lingers is that White people see it as trivial and some blacks see it where it does not exist. To be sure, this case does not smack of racial profiling. I see it more as one of two egos that went unchecked. Mr Gates got indignant at a white police officer questioning him in his own house- a man's house is his castle you know?. The police officer, for his part, let his ego get the best of him when he felt this intellectual is trying to demean his working class status. A clash between two egotistical men is like a clash between two elephants. Where two elephants clash, grass does not grow.
Mr Gates' reaction is informed by history. The history of this country is replete with black men being stereotyped and maligned by a system that was supposed to protect all. For someone like Professor Gates, a white police officer coming into his house, on an annonymous tip of burglary was a "Hell No!" moment. And that was where things started going out of hand.
For his part, and as good a man as he has been portrayed to be, the Officer did nothing wrong in answering the call. As a matter of fact that was the right thing to do and maybe should have been thanked for that. Where the whole thing went off the hinges for him was not when he realised whom he was talking to but when he found out that the person he was talking to was the rightful owner of the house. At that point, a simple apology would have sufficed. " I understand why you would be upset, we were just responding to a call, and I will be out of your way. Good day sir "!. This, at least, is how it happens in movies. Too bad we can't bring it to real life.
If this had been squashed right there and then, it would have been a local issue and nobody outside that local confine would have heard about it. Except, maybe, as an anecdote. Now, when a person of Professor Gates stature leaves his own house in handcuffs, I am sorry, but that is no longer a local matter. At least, not for blacks and the baggage of history that we all carry. Look at the flip side: A prominent white scholar, with more than 50 honorary degrees under his belt, friend of President Bush, is seen leaving his house in handcuffs, arrested by a black officer who came to answer a call of suspected burglary and is charged with disturbing the peace..IN HIS HOUSE!. I'll take a moment to LOL. Ok I am back!
Now, should the president have weighed in? My answer is a resounding YES. Should he have used the S word? maybe not. But that is more a question of political correctness than it is of the underlying problem in this case which is covert racism.
I could not help but feel empathy for Officer Crowley. He is, apparently, an affable guy. However, this case jumped onto an historical wave the moment these two set eyes on each other, stoked, maybe by two heealthy egos, and it spiraled out of control from there on, too big for anyone of them to contain. Not even the goodness of Crowley could stop the way things went.
Hopefully, as everyone now says, we can use this case as a teachable moment. For all.
One Love

Having beers at the WH shows the depth of the depth and wisdom of President. There is no better way to forge peaceful relations than to sit down and have a beer. The healed relations that the President is making an effort to repair is not about the professor nor the cop, but American people. We all know that there is no legal case, but he President Obama isthat would have done that? Dont make "light" of happy hour, it's a good thing. Every one will be looking on. Quit critizing YOUR President. Remember, he is half white. He loved his grandparents very much so please stop calling the President racist. That is a horrible thing to say and if you posters say you are patriotic, you had better check yourselves. Have some respect for the Office of the American Presidency.

For such an educated black man to resort to playing the race card, when caught in the wrong, is not surprising. Surprising is the acceptance we Americans give it.
like most cards you have to know when to play it, this time, it was clearly the wrong play.
Perhaps even the president should study his hand a little closer, might improve his game.

I read we have a long way to go for some of these rednecks that are speaking out on this attrocity. It is scary and very disappointing that we have some ex-cops that try to justify this officers actions. It is not a crime to be vocal and particularly when the cop will not leave your own home. Why is it that some cops try to justify shooting unarmed people or badgering an old man with a cane?

If Anything, I think the evidence shows that Obama Overeacted
and Showed that His Assumption that the Cops acted in a Stupid "Racist" Way was in and of itself a Racial Slurr....Insuiating that Since these were White Officiers and a Black "Friend" it had to be a Racist incident....

It is Exactly this type of "Racial" Pimping...Practiced by the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and it does a diservice to the Black Community as a whole......The "Race" Card when used even when there is NO evidence just furthers the divide....

The Great Unifyer is a Liar...

Greetings to all. It pains me to read excessive remarks from both sides of the fence. The comments posted by Mr. JimC are a classic example of a person who does not like Police Officers. I ask myself, Has he been arrested before, has he gotten a considerable amount of traffic tickets or is he anohter person adding to the "sterile"argument? Sergeant Crowley acted "by the book" and Mr. Gates acted as a person who looks down on others who are not "his equals". Race has nothing to do with this, I am a minority and do not play the "race card". President Obama's remarks were unfortunate and demonstrate his lack of knowledge about those of us who leave our families behind every day to protect those of others. "Sorry are those who do not appreciate those who protect them". My Quote. God Bless America.

I wish people would grow up and stop crying 'racism' all the freaking time.

Suck it up and be a part of the solution instead of a part of the problem.

Officers put their lives on the line every single day to provide protection to citizens. If you choose to be beligerent and uncooperative then you deserve to get arrested. Plain and simple.

Why the heck couldn't Gates just provide the information to the officer and thank him for checking on his property??? What if there WERE two men trying to break in? Then, he would have been really freaking happy to have the cop come check on his home.

Gates is an idiot, he's book smart but lacks common sense.

7-27-09. Now that the witness said she did not mention race, what is your position now? Why did the officer say the witness mentioned race when she said she did not? The officer is suffering from the "upitty nigger syndrom." They are saying bthat this officer is a racial profiling trainer. I am as well. It does not take much to teach someone that you are arresting or pulling someone over because of a profile you have of what actions they might take part in. ie. What is the profile of a mass murderer...a middle age white male.
what is the profile of a drug dealer or thief? What is the profile of a person who has lots of kids and does not want to work but want a handout from the government? What is going on when black men are riding 4-deep in a nice car?