Gates-gate

So I was talking with one of my twitter friends about the Gates thing in Cambridge. Y'know, the Harvard prof that got arrested in his own home. Some people think its racial profiling. But really, if you mouth off to a cop, you deserve to get your ass arrested. Hell, I would expect to get arrested if I started shouting at a cop. Part of the reason is my parents taught me that the best way to avoid trouble with the cops was to be straight "Yes sir. No Sir. Right away officer. Whatever you say officer." You be polite, and do as the cop says, and you'll be a helluva lot better off. Getting pissed and mouthing off is a sure ticket to central booking.

Don't get me wrong, if cops were called to my home, and were questioning me, I'd be upset, too. But mouthing off at the cop is the wrong way to deal with it. Mouthing off, demanding the cop's name and badge number, telling them you're a big man, and you're going to complain, that's just plain stupid.

If you think the cop is doing something wrong, the best way to deal with things is to be polite, and respectful, and go along with what they want. That's the best way to get them to go without further incident. If you want to make a complaint, don't go angrily demanding their name and badge number, simply ask for a copy of the incident report. The report will have the name of the officer, as well as his badge, and you'll be able to file a complaint in short order, and avoid seeing the inside of a cell block at the same time.

I think the most telling piece of this story is that a black officer on the Cambridge police force who was on the scene also said that if he'd gotten to the Professor's home first, he'd have done the same thign as the white officer.

Did racial profiling happen on the part of the officers? Maybe, maybe not. But there was almost certainly some profiling going on on Gates's part. Racism and racial profiling works both ways.