i feel officer gate's was in the right, to do what he did. i'm very upset with president obama, for interfering with this case. officer gates was doing his job. obama, was causing a racial situation. good luck officer gates, my prayers are with you.. marlene machado

I am a retired police officer. I agree with the President of Baltimore's FOP. However, I do not think the heart of the issue is that Sgt. Crowley responded to the call. I believe the issue is how he responded to Mr. Gates. Race may not have been the motivation in the arrest but Sgt. Crowley's displeasure with Mr. Gates' reaction to the situation.

Sgt. Crowley was in his professional environment (meaning on-the-job) at the time of the incident. He was the person being paid and whose actions would be scrutinized. If Sgt. Crowley's assertion is correct that he was only given a Harvard identification, he could have verified information about Mr. Gates through the criminal justice information system. This would have also allowed him to check if Mr. Gates had a criminal record and/or outstanding warrants. Once Sgt. Crowley was aware that he was in Mr. Gates' home, he should have thanked Mr. Gates for his cooperation (even if the cooperation was limited) and promptly left.

Mr. Gates may have become irate because he was on his own property. Mr. Gates, like most of us Americans, may feel a certain level of security and even authority in his home. He may not have demonstrated a level of appreciation for the officer's job that was being performed. Mr. Gates may not realize the adrenaline that goes through an officer's body when he receives a call for service. Sgt. Crowley was going into an unknown situation with unknown circumstances and an unknown outcome.

The fact that both men have yet to view this situation from the other's perspective may prove that this situation is more about testosterone than race.

While I agree the situation may indeed not have been about race, there is still no doubt to me that Dr. Gates DID NOT commit a crime, and SHOULD NOT have been arrested, PERIOD! A free society cannot tolerate an environment where law enforcement is arresting citizens merely for being insulted. What about freedom of speech?

People hurl insults at each other everyday, but does this rise to the level of criminality? Is a law truly violated because your ego was bruised? I call your attention to the generic job category; LAW ENFORCEMENT, was Sgt. Crowley truly enforcing the law, perhaps to the letter, but certainly not the spirit of the law.

A bruised ego is not justification to take the major step of placing someone in custody. Having been a patrolman, plain clothes agent, and intelligence operator, I for one know that you don't go around arresting law abiding citizens in their own homes just because they pissed you off. Sometimes you gotta just smile, wave, and remove yourself from the situation, Sgt. Crowley is about to learn it's not worth it to unnecessarily engage with a citizen to escalate a situation that no longer called for police intervention.

Lastly, I have to ask, why would an officer enter a home suspected of having two burglars without being accompanied by back up?

I don't know the law in Mass, so I'll speak from a Md. perspective. As a former city officer I know a person can not -- under the law -- be disorderly within the curteledge of their own home, i.e. on their porch, steps, etc. While I think Obama overstepped his bounds by a large amount, the mistake the Sgt. made was in arresting Gates on his porch for yelling at him. The Sgt. should've walked directly back to his car, knowing Gates would follow, and place him under arrest at that point. Based on the pictures of the property, the curb & street would not be considered, "within the curteledge on one's home".

Wow!! I never thought that this will be such a big news. It went from Gates arrest to Obama apalogy. This has become more interesting than what I thought. So, I collected all the sites or articles (more than 250 sites or articles) related to this hot topic "Cambridge Police Unit Demands Apology from Obama". If you are interested take a look at news, video coverage, people views and reviews on this topic at the below link.
http://markthispage.blogspot.com/2009/07/all-about-cambridge-police-unit-demands.html

I don’t know the facts, but Obama acted stupidly and is a racist! I denounce him, the ACLU, MSNBC, and the Democrat party for the their Racism.
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When the officers determined it was the professors home - that ought to have been the end of it. Whether he mouthed off or not, doesn't warrant arresting the man. This is where the officers's ego stepped in and might I add, exactly what I expect from too many cops. They don't know when to walk away. They become 'the problem.' May this be a lesson to all officers, check your ego at the station. This cop was behaving as if he were the professors daddy. Way wrong. Don't want or need cops like that. He went and picked the wrong person to arrest.

The law cannot be complacent with nobody, independent of color, religion, race, etc. It is about being neutral and let other instances with authority and proper knowledge judging about the situation. It is very risky and hard for all outsiders, including myself, the President and everybody else, make comments without being subjective.

All I know, as homeowner, my rights are as valid as my behaviors are within the law and my documents prove who I am and where I live.

I personally believe that this issue could have easly been resolved without any arrest. All the officer had to do was verfiy that the man lived there, by mail or what ever. And all the man had to was stay calm and understand that the officer was doing his job. Atfer all he did break in his own house but, he could have easily diffused the situation.

First off, Obama in that press conference, started off answering the question by stating, "I was not there... I dont know all of the facts... According to the facts presented by me...." Therefore, if no one wants the president's opinion, don't ask or take it as such...... an opinion. Second, I understand that most officers of the law wants to become detectives and sergants. So in that case, I think Officer Crowley rightfully ignored the pictures of Mr. Gates on the walls and tables, or the IDs' the "Suspect" presented. No No. Clearly all those things could have been planted and made those things before Officer Crowley arrived. He needed harder evidence like DNA or videotapes that viewed Mr. Gates entering the home prior to the the event that occurred. James Crowley needs a Medal of Honor and a promotion for his act of duty, bravery, and intellegence that takes a rocket scientists to figure out that Mr. Gates has broke into his own home because he had locked himself out like with most people do when in a hurry. We are so lucky. Shame on you Mr. President for your comment on a fine officer of the law.

This "scholar" repeatedly kept yelling to the cop that he was a racist for absolutely no reason and this should be treated as a hate crime, just as it would be if a white person used a racial slur.
I consider slanderous comments and race-baiting just as harmful and offensive as using the "n" word and so do the majority of Americans.

The Baltimore FOP ought to practice what they preach and not interfere with a local Cambridge PD matter.

I don’t know the facts, but Obama acted stupidly and is a racist! I denounce him, the ACLU, MSNBC, and the Democrat party for the their Racism.

You left out Al Gore, ACORN and the Sharia Law that will soon be imposed on all of us. You're slipping.

Although the victims are of different races, the Cambridge story reminded me of the recent Anne Arundel County police-involved shooting where the police went to check on a woman who had left a hospital against the advice of her doctor and then shot her husband:. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/bal-md.ar.housley17jul17,0,1535280.story

I think the moral of the story is to be polite to the police & don't challenge them or else they will arrest or shoot you. Plus, it doesn't matter if you are black or white, the result will be the same.

"Authorities quickly withdrew the charge against Gates after the media storm began. However, this might also have happened because being belligerent to a cop in your own house is not disorderly conduct under Massachusetts law."

http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2009/07/the-henry-louis-gates-jr-arrest-and-disorderly-conduct.html?=features

Furthermore, when the media queried Sgt. Crowley as to his reaction to President Obama's reply that the police "acted stupidly", Crowley immediately said "... I didn't vote for him."

At the very least, he outed himself as both unprofessional and politically biased. More significantly, he disregarded and violated Mass. law.

As a 58yo, 'uppity', white woman, when I ask an officer for his/her name and badge number, I expect them to give it to me-post haste. As a taxpayer, I pay their salaries. Their job is to protect and serve me - not to demand "deference" or require my subjugation to their "authority" (and, particularly, not in my own home.)

If I was his boss, Crowley would be fired.

I mean come on, the officer was trying to do his job, the only racist in this situation is indeed Mr. Gates. And of course it would absolutely come down to this with a professor that teaches the subject. Whether white, black, blue or green, the officer did his job by following up to make sure the person was indeed the owner of the home. And Gates should take consideration that the officer was thorough and that the neighbor reported the activity. Perhaps Mr. Gates should learn a little respect for his peers that are actually looking out for his best interests in his community before pulling the race card just because the officer was white. Lastly, with Obama saying "I wasnt there and I dont know all the facts", he really should have kept any opinion to himself, because he is showing signs of racial bias in this ordeal.

President Obama is an intellectual lightweight elected solely on the surge of his rock-star status. He has a history of obnoxious, prissy remarks that betray his true sense of elitism. There's no excuse for a president, especially one with a J.D. from Harvard, to shoot his mouth off over a local policing incident without first knowing the facts.

As for Professor Gates, he's nothing more than an obnoxious black man who thinks the rules don't apply to him. If he was truly upset about his treatment at the hands of the police his vehemence would've been equally directed at every officer on the scene, not just the white one. His status as a professor of "racial" studies, or whatever pseudo-intellectual foolishness he claims to teach, clearly provided the impetus to seek out his fifteen minutes of fame.

As for Sgt. Crowley, his only mistake was thinking that black people really do want to be treated like the rest of us. Equality is the farthest thing from their minds.

Obama once again showed his ignorance and racism, here is the most powerful man in the world defending his black friend against a white cop thought his job was to defend all of us, wonder if he would have commented if it was the opposite? Reverand White, Michelle''for the 1st. time I'm proud to be American comment'' c'mon America is this the ''Change'' you reaaly wanted, and Gates was way out of line, being ignorant to a cop isn't going to get you anywhere, Mr. Crowley I support you.

yeah...probably better communication between the parties involved would have helped.

NOW...I would like to add that the public has a love / hate relationship with the police. Need them when you need them. Don't need them when you don't need them.

And the police tend to operate like they are programmed to do and most citizens do not understand how the cops are programmed. In their programming the police do not respond well AT ALL to people talking back to them...even if it is perceived back-talking.

Race really is not an issue in this case - nor did President Obama claim that it was about race. Even though there are conflicting accounts, what we do know is that 1) Professor Gates was not a burglar. He was in his own home, 2) the arresting officer knew at the time that he arrested Gates that Gates was not a burglar and that no crime had been committed, and 3) the charge was not burglary - it was "disorderly conduct". From those facts, it is clear that the officer arrested Gates - knowing that no crime had been committed - simply because he did not like the way Gates reacted. An officer should know - and he probably did know - that a charge of "disorderly conduct" requires that the conduct complained of be public. Here, the "conduct" was in Professor Gates own home and not public. So the officer knew that at the time he arrested Gates that there wasn't even a viable "disorderly conduct" charge. It is clear that the arrest was made purely because the officer was offended at Gates reaction. But it is an abuse of power to arrest someone on a bogus charge simply because the officer is offended. We have a right to free speech and free expression in this country (especially in our own homes) and police officers are not entitled to immunity and protection from insults. Regardless of the race issue, it frightens me that police officers can behave this way and arrest private citzens simply because they were insulted. This officer should be diciplined and should be subject to a lawsuit for violation of Professor Gates civil liberties.

Additionally, President Obama did not "interfere" in the case - as many are claiming. Prior to the media overreaction, he took no action whatsoever. He simply stated his opinion, which was requested. He also prefaced his remarks with an acknowledgement that Professor Gates was a friend and that he may be biased. The president simply stated his own opinion. It also frightens me that people are no longer able to simply state their opinions in public without this ridiculous media circus ensuing.

you should not have to kiss a cop's butt to not be arrested in your own house and BCPD has some nerve since most act like criminals with n o records