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- Professor Gates Arrest: Was it Fabricated?
- By Byron A. Ellis - July 28, 2009
The arrest of Skip Gates confirms what many American citizens already know, if a police wants to make an arrest, he can fabricate a story.
Professor Gates arresting officer, Sgt. James Crowley, written report indicates that he spoke to a white female who reported two black men with backpacks trying to force entry into the house.
However, Ms. Lucia Whalen, the alleged white woman denies reporting race and talking to Sgt. Crowley.
Ms. Whalen’s denial cast a large doubt on the veracity of Sgt. Crowley’s report. And, confirms what many citizen already know, some officers validate their actions through story telling.
Many blacks and Hispanics have experience this fudging of the truth by biased police officers.
When biased police officers distort the truth, they are confident that judges and prosecutors will accept their stories as facts, because they are partners in the legal framework.
If Skip Gates was not well connected his arrest would not have become public and charges would have not been dropped. Furthermore, if he was a poor black or Hispanic, he would remain incarcerated.
Thus, from the action of biased officers, it is easy to see why so many blacks and Hispanics are arrested and thrown in jail.
Sgt. Crowley and the Cambridge police department must publicly answer to the inconsistence of the police report and if found to be false, appropriate remedies should be taken by the mayor of Cambridge, Ms. Denise Simmons.
The behavior of the Cambridge officer, however, is not different from biased officers across the United States. Often, they target blacks and Hispanics, because they know the legal (and economic) system is stacked against them.
As a nation, we must do better. Biased officers are the enemies of honest and fair cops and therefore should rooted out of the police force.
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Comments
"BattleAngel"
"In addition to this, the issue of the media and its impact on politics, attitudes, and ongoing legal cases should also be raised. It is apparent that the media and those with the means to influence these institutions use its power to further distort the truth. The media is indeed apart of this ""legal framework"" as well.
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For example, as many articles and journalists
would highlight how ""black"" police officers thought the arrest was
""proper"" and how police officer unions were ""offended"" by President
Obama's comments regarding the arrest, indicates that the media also plays a
major role in truth distortion and thus a role in attitudes and opinions.
The President's words no matter how true they may be was lambasted by many in the media. And the President's reaction to the racial profiling was assumed only because the President himself was ""black."" not because it had any truth to it. The failure of many media outlets to effectively highlight police brutality and their rush to defend this ""legal framework"" shows indeed that they too are an institution which cannot be ignored in upholding a bias system.