Police Commissioner Defends Officer but Will Assemble Panel To Review Gates' Arrest

Cambridge Police Department Commissioner Robert C. Haas announced at a press conference this afternoon that the Department would be assembling a panel of "independent notable professionals" in coming days to review and analyze the controversial arrest of black Harvard Professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, Jr. at his own home last Thursday.

Haas said the panel would attempt to "look at the situation in its totality," try to provide a factual basis for what transpired, and give recommendations for improvements within the department when faced with similar circumstances in the future.

Nevertheless, Haas said that the Department had been "deeply pained" by recent criticism of the police's handling of the incident—including from President Barack Obama—and added that the department took its professionalism seriously. He said that such attention is "not the kind of notoriety we want to come to this city," and maintained that Sergeant James Crowley, the officer who made the arrest, had done nothing wrong in his handling of the incident.

"I believe that Sergeant Crowley acted in a way that is consistent with his training at the Department, consistent with national standards of law enforcement protocol," he said. "I do not believe that his actions were in any way racially motivated." Instead, Haas said that Crowley had "assessed the situation, tried to de-escalate the situation, and made a determination that the only way to stop the situation was to make an arrest."

Haas said that the Department would provide the review panel with all necessary records, documentation, and police staff, and that the final report would be available for public review.

"I believe that there is always a better way of doing things in the future," he said.

Haas also revealed new information at the press conference today, noting that Gates' home had previously been broken into, before the arrest, while the professor was away. He said that he was not exactly sure when the break-in took place, and that it had been investigated by Harvard University Police Department.

Last Thursday's incident had transpired when a woman reported to police that she saw two men apparently trying to pry open the front door to Gates' home. But the men entering were likely Gates, who had returned to Cambridge after a trip to China, and his car driver, who was helping him force his way through a jammed front door. When officers arrived to investigate, tensions flared as Gates, who had by then entered the home, angrily and loudly accused the officer of targeting him because he was black, according to police reports.

But Gates and his lawyer have said that the professor cooperated fully, providing both his Harvard identification and a drivers license to prove he lived in the home. They said the officer refused to identify himself and lured Gates out of the home to arrest him.

Haas said that the incident was less a matter of providing proper identification, however, and that Crowley made the arrest "as a last resort" after unsuccessfully trying to de-escalate the tension at the scene.

Earlier Thursday, President Obama said he was "surprised" by the controversy that had erupted over his comments at a press conference last night, where he had said that the Cambridge Police acted "stupidly" in arresting Gates. Haas said at the conference that his officers took the comments to heart and were "stunned" and "deflated."

Haas said that the City and police decided on Tuesday to drop the disorderly conduct charge filed against Gates because "we basically felt this was a situation that we needed to move on from."

"We didn't want this to be a prolonged situation, [and we] needed to focus back on what we do in terms of providing safety and protection for this community," Haas said.

He said that the decision to drop the charges had been made in consultation with the Cambridge City Council, Manager, and Solicitor, and said that the Department had been approached by Gates' attorney first.

While Gates called the officer who arrested him a "rogue cop," Haas said that Crowley was a "stellar member of this Department" and that he relied on Crowley's judgment everyday. Nevertheless, he said that the Department regretted that the incident took place, and said that "nobody's happy about this situation."

—Staff writer Maxwell L. Child can be reached at mchild@fas.harvard.edu
—Staff writer Peter F. Zhu can be reached at pzhu@fas.harvard.edu