Shame, Shame, Shame (sung to the tune of "Chain of Fools")
-
So Henry Louis Gates, professor of African American studies at Harvard, was arrested in his home for calling cops "racist."
Gates was coming back to his home near Harvard after a trip and was having trouble with the front door (sticky lock). Someone saw this, decided to call the police, and the police came to his house. Gates showed them his driver's license, listing the home as his address. But as the cops were leaving, Gates was yelling at them and calling them names. So they came back and arrested him for disorderly conduct.
Geez. Couldn't they just apologize and leave? Gates may have been obnoxious, but it's not against the law to be obnoxious. And he had reason to be pissed---it's not like he was randomly ranting with no context. More and more stories of coming to light of police using their powers in a punitive manner; I'm thinking of the grandmother who got tasered recently. She also was pretty obnoxious, but the police officer was in absolutely no physical danger. He was sick of her foul mouth and decided to give her a good shock.
Police have a tough job, but their behavior must be completely above the fray. It may be a lot to ask, but that's the price of being granted weapons and the authority to arrest. I'm also reminded of the police officers who broke into the house of mayor of Berwyn Heights, shot their family pets, and then held the family for hours while they searched for drugs. A delivery of drugs had been made to their house, but the Prince George's count police KNEW that drug dealers were having drugs delivered to the houses of innocent people and then picking up the box after delivery. They couldn't have taken a few minutes to find out who lived in that house and make some sort of preliminary judgment about how likely it was that the resident was a drug dealer? As they say, with great power comes great responsibility, and there's room for improvement here.
-
So Henry Louis Gates, professor of African American studies at Harvard, was arrested in his home for calling cops "racist."
Gates was coming back to his home near Harvard after a trip and was having trouble with the front door (sticky lock). Someone saw this, decided to call the police, and the police came to his house. Gates showed them his driver's license, listing the home as his address. But as the cops were leaving, Gates was yelling at them and calling them names. So they came back and arrested him for disorderly conduct.
Geez. Couldn't they just apologize and leave? Gates may have been obnoxious, but it's not against the law to be obnoxious. And he had reason to be pissed---it's not like he was randomly ranting with no context. More and more stories of coming to light of police using their powers in a punitive manner; I'm thinking of the grandmother who got tasered recently. She also was pretty obnoxious, but the police officer was in absolutely no physical danger. He was sick of her foul mouth and decided to give her a good shock.
Police have a tough job, but their behavior must be completely above the fray. It may be a lot to ask, but that's the price of being granted weapons and the authority to arrest. I'm also reminded of the police officers who broke into the house of mayor of Berwyn Heights, shot their family pets, and then held the family for hours while they searched for drugs. A delivery of drugs had been made to their house, but the Prince George's count police KNEW that drug dealers were having drugs delivered to the houses of innocent people and then picking up the box after delivery. They couldn't have taken a few minutes to find out who lived in that house and make some sort of preliminary judgment about how likely it was that the resident was a drug dealer? As they say, with great power comes great responsibility, and there's room for improvement here.
-
posted by Anonymous at
2:06 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home