Comments on: Black Cambridge Cops Back Crowley’s Actions – Kelly King: “Charges Are Bogus, I Won’t Vote for Obama Again” (video)

By: Dave B

Dave B — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:40:28 +0000

Malik: I’m not sure I get your point. Do you think white cops don’t know or understand what black males in America go through? Of course we do. My advice was not to a black male in America, it was to a cop who can’t afford to let that interfere with what he is doing every day… or it might get him hurt or killed. Whether we want to admit it or not all cops profile… because that’s how they do their job and stay alive, even black officers and the black officers will back me up on that. I just didn’t want him in a situation where he would make the wrong decision based on pre-judgement that might get him killed. There are a lot of white people out there that would kill him and I didn’t want that to happen. I surely am not making judgements on any type of life experience. He knows what I was talking about but if you must know I’ll explain: you go to a call for a break in progress… it might be criminals breaking in and it might be someone holding a gun to the head of the person you interact with to make him tell you to leave, it might be that he owns the house but his wife has a restraining order and he broke in to hurt or kill her… etc. Cops are trained to entertain all possible scenarios because that’s how we stay alive on most calls. No offense was intended whatsoever. If he didn’t arrest a person causing a disturbance when all the neighbors were coming out of their houses then he would have been accused of not doing his job of keeping the peace which is our ultimate responsibility. Most cops, not all of them, learn quickly that a loudmouth yelling at you is not important and we are trained and taught to deal with that. The problem was that the public was getting upset over the situation and failure to act in such a situation means you’re not doing what the public is paying you to do. Unless you just wanted to insult a white man for something, I hope you understand that I was truly concerned about another police officer… regardless of race. Do you think white cops don’t deal with racism? Are you that ignorant? Do you think female officers don’t deal with sexism? Cops are TRAINED to deal with it, to dismiss it because it will be used to gain an advantage against you. That’s what my concern was.

By: malik

malik — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:14:42 +0000

I have been a cop for 0 years and a black male for 26 years. I want to confront Dave B head on about his statements against Klive. Maybe Dave B needs counseling for making idiotic comments about Klive’s life experience being profile while being black. That has nothing to do with making snap judgments on a situation such as the one with Prof. Gates. I personally believe that Gates was in the wrong giving Crowley a hard time and Crowley was wrong for overreacting. I personally believe arrogance had a role to play in this situation more than race per se. Gates is this well respected professor with connections to the President and Crowely is an officer who can a wield power at his descretion hiding his badge, knowing he could use force without provocation, knowing he could probably get away with it.It has more to do with ego and arrogance than race. Now, back to the topic of racial profiling. Im sure that Klive who is black and Dave who is white have racial profiled either directly or indirectly, that is part of the social economic factors of certain situations such as high crime areas in black neighborhoods or other minority neighbor hoods. I’ve been profiled many times and it just comes with the territory so I deal with it in a respectful manner and I respect the law officers even when they maybe wrong. I really believe Gates didn’t have a major argument, he’s respected scholar that writes books on race and been a black man and now he has become fodder for the very things he writes about. He stated that its not fun been part of the very thing he talks about.

I also want to comment on Kelly King. I think it was courageous that she took up for her fellow officer, but I also think it was stupid for her to say that she was not going to vote for Barack again. That is the dichotomy we deal with support of race and profession.

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By: admin

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:32:31 +0000

I believe people like Klive are in the minority. I have known people like that, but thankfully, very few. I also have known a few racists and homophobes, but again, very few. Among my current group of conservative friends, none are racists nor homophobes nor police haters nor religious purists. The ones I did know were more liberal and much angrier. Maybe that says something about ideology vs. tolerance. Don’t know, since my own experience is obviously limited.

Great post, Dave – thanks!

I also want to commend Kelly King for her comments in the video. It takes courage to say what she did, knowing that while other police officers would empathize and understand, that she was likely setting herself up for hate attacks and hostility from activists in the black community. God bless her for her being so honest, stoic, and objective to voice her opinions that would likely make her a target – a brave woman. Freedom of speech is precious, and there are many people these days who want to silence dissenters.

By: Dave B

Dave B — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:27:47 +0000

I have been a cop for 33 years and a white male for 53 years. I would confront “Klive” directly on his comments. If you are what you say you are you know EXACTLY what happened and what was warranted. The black officers on scene and who work with the sergeant came out in defense of him so your statements don’t apply. You know what we are taught, what we face at every call, what is important, and what circumstances we must envision on every call before we make our decision. You know damn right well that race had nothing to do with this call and if you feel different then you should seek out some counseling because you might have your own issues. You are a brother officer and I don’t want you going in to work with these types of prejudices that may affect your job or other officer’s safety. I wish I could talk to you in person but I can’t. You’re wrong and deep down you know it but won’t admit it and it might affect your job performance. My brother you have a deep rooted problem that can be corrected but you have to admit it to yourself. That female officer was just doing what was right and she was courageous in doing it. You obviously aren’t “getting it” with respect to other police officers and it is a concern. For some reason you have placed “race” ahead of everything else and it has no place in law enforcement and you are dead wrong. I don’t want to minimize your life experience but you have to move beyond it if you want to survive as a police officer. My email is dbones703@hotmail.com if you want to discuss it further my friend.

By: KLive

KLive — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:40:36 +0000

I have been a police officer for about 8 yrs and I have been a Black male for 43 yrs.I have been involved in this type of situation numerous times, both as officer and as a civilian. I can understand how both parties feel about the situation. Having said that this whole situation could have been avoided if Sgt.Crowley had just told Dr. Gates what he was there for in the beginning things would have been a lot smoother. I have been to similar situations and when I got to the door and they didn’t try to run, that was an indication that they probably live there. I have also been racially profiled numerous times. I know how Dr. Gates felt during that incident. This whole sitaution could have been avoided if coller heads had prevailed. I hope in the future that both sides take a minute before they react. Also Officer King really disappointe me withher comments.

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