Our Assessment of the Obama Comments about Cambridge Police

As you may know, we have posted national media articles on the comments made by President Obama in reference to an arrest made by a Cambridge, MA police Sgt.

In summery of the incident...

The Sgt. made an arrest for disorderly conduct of a black professor of Harvard who is close friends of President Obama. The president made the comment that the Cambridge police "acted stupidly" affecting the arrest.

The Sgt. received a call for a B&E in progress, upon arrival the professor refused to identify himself initially and called the police Sgt. a racist, following him from the house, even insulting the police officer's mother. The Sgt. maintains he made a good arrest while the professor maintains that the police officer is a rouge policeman. The professor also stated, "The vulnerability of poor minorities in America". Bear in mind that that the professor is not poor by a longshot going on to stating that he has "very valuable art" inside of his residence.

A neighbor of the professor confirmed the professor's behavior was excessive and insulting. The Sgt. gave an on camera interview about the incident. The department's administration stands by the officer. The officer is also a police instructor for racial profiling.

The WicBury Crapper assessment...

Of course, there is always two sides to every story. From the way the Sgt. described the incident he was only attempting to identify the professor as being a resident of the property, which he was able to do. The Sgt. was immediately met with hostility and anger and was even provoked to arrest while the professor followed the Sgt. out of the house. The Sgt. gave the professor several warnings to discontinue his course of conduct.

The comments made by President Obama were plainly out of line, especially commenting on a local incident involving a personal friend of his. The professor unfortunately sees racial profiling everywhere. There was a legitimate call for service at the professors house indicating a possible burglary in progress. The Sgt. responded and was met with hostility by the professor, who apparently has a bad view of white police officers. So, the real question here is who is racist? Is it the white police officer, who is a racial profiling instructor at the police academy, who received a valid call for service to investigate a possible crime in progress or is it the black professor who confronts the police officer. The professor even followed the officer out of the house yelling at him, calling the officer a racist, and even at one point said, "I'll see your mother out there (on the porch)."

This is not an incident of racial profiling by the police. This is an incident of a professor, who thinks he is too important to be bothered by the police and who has friends in high places, wanting to berate the police. The professor is programmed to see racial issues everywhere, even when a cop responds to his house, to investigate a burglary and protect his residence. When asking for identification this sets the professor off, yelling that he will call the police Chief, and every other type of nonsense. You can even see the professor yelling while being arrested and the Sgt. advising him to "calm down". There is also a black police officer in the foreground of the picture. According to the associated press, "A black police officer who was at Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s home when the black Harvard scholar was arrested says he fully supports how his white fellow officer handled the situation."

Sgt. Leon Lashley says Gates was probably tired and surprised when Sgt. James Crowley demanded identification from him as officers investigated a report of a burglary. Lashley says Gates' reaction to Crowley was "a little bit stranger than it should have been."
Asked if Gates should have been arrested, Lashley said supported Crowley "100 percent."Unfortunately, some people use race as a crutch and soap box for themselves. This professor is that type of person, similar to Al Sharpton, a well known and documented race hustler.

All of the black police officers that we have known throughout the years have been dedicated members of each respective department and function with a white majority of officers in order to protect the public (as we discussed in our article about black policing).

It is unfortunate when incidents such as these demonstrate to us as a society that a person, who is insulting and berating a uniformed law enforcement officer and acting in a plainly disorderly manner, can stand on a soap box and scream racism. It is also plainly sad that our president, who is of all people, sided with a personal friend without knowing the facts of an incident and stated that the Cambridge police acted "Stupidly". What's stupidly is Obama's comments which has insulted the integrity of a police officer with a exemplary record of conduct. Incidents like this fuel falsely laid distrust and suspicion of law enforcement; making all cops job more difficult and dangerous.

What are your thoughts?