Saturday, July 25, 2009

Didn't Take So Long

The bloom is off Obama and his popularity is eroding. This is mostly due to the economy and I would sooner see a healthy economy no matter who is in office. He is starting to back track on the comments about profiling.

I have written about the difference between profiling and sound law enforcement.

Person X is from country Y that has a history of smuggling cigarettes to fund terror. With no other indicators if we were to extensively question him on the subject this would be profiling

Person W is also from country Y and has been convicted of cigarette smuggling. This person now fits an existing crime pattern and due diligence is warranted.

As a person who indeed was frequently pulled over it is annoying. I can empathize with both the officer and Gates. I remember being asked by a State Trooper if I had guns in my car or if I returned with large quantities of cigarettes. I was more embarrassed over the large quantities of ethnic food that were in the freezer chests. When one is frequently stopped it is indeed frustrating and annoying. Then again a small town cop looking to break up a drug ring is likely
looking in the wrong direction. The stop is also a vital way of finding out who is whom in a small
town. There were many drug busts where I lived, but in an odd way it was almost like a touch of home in VT. To a NYC type familiar with Washington Square Park in the Dinkins years there was a type of nostalgia.

Police in a small town will do things that are unthinkable in a large city. I remember a policw officer walking into a bar and pouring a pregnant womans drink on the floor. They put the woman in the car and took her home and laced into the bartender and owner later. A coworker who is a former NYC cop says they do that here, but I never saw anything like that. Women should not drink while pregnant but a big city cop would likely not be familiar enough with the community to make that call.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The police officer was responding to a call about a possible break-in. He had no choice but to talk to Gates. With "profiling" there is a choice about who to stop and question.

Anonymous said...

Beak,

Taking care of that woman in the bar was sweet! Now thats how I would define being a Patriot, a true Peace Officer. Another would see taking a shopping cart back to the store as a true "Patriot", I cant help but think of that statement everytime I take my shopping cart back to its place, LOL, what a definition of a Patriot! Wally World must be a very unpatriotic place!

CM

beakerkin said...

FJ

That is an important point that is missed. However, I do understand how Gates likely felt.

The police officer was doing his job and Gates was likely frustrated by this experience. In general it is best if law officers understand these matters.

I have had people scream the most obnoxious comments at work. But I can not respond as a professional.

I relate to both sides.

CM

In a small town the officer who tossed the drink knew the woman's life story. He was disgusted by her
disregard for her unborn child. The woman was not too happy.

Police work in a small town is more intimate and as a NYC type it is much different.

Always On Watch said...

This is mostly due to the economy...

Mostly, yes.

But other factors are playing in as well, even this Gates mess.

BHO was dead wrong to criticize the officer who arrested Gates. Period. This was not a case of racial profiling.

beakerkin said...

AOW

In reality you are correct. However to Gates the matter is very frustrating. I remember being exasperated at the frequent stops.

Ducky's here said...

Stupid foreign wars: cheered for, given blank checks, can't end them.

Decent health insurance for Americans: worrying, can't be paid for, unsustainable.

Anonymous said...

Beak, what happened to Gates wasn't "racial profiling" and so you can in NO way understand how Gate's felt.

What happened to you was criminal profiling (as your behaviour resembled something criminal, but you didn't see it as such until much later) and what happened to Gates was criminal profiling which he immediately understood at the time to have been the result of his own behaviour (B&E) and NOT RACIAL profiling.

People are apt to look for "reason" in everything, and the police are no exception. And believe me, every man who goes looking for one (a reason) is likely to find what he's looking for. The secret lies in always being supplied with a "good one" especially when your appearance can be contrived as "suspicious"... as in "breaking into a home with a crowbar".

If Gates felt that there was a racial aspect to being interrogated by the police whilst breaking into a house or asked for ID, then he shouldn't be considered fit for teaching anything, let alone, black history.

"I long ago lost a hound, a bay horse, and a turtle dove, and am still on their trail. Many are the travellers I have spoken concerning them, describing their tracks and what calls they answered to. I have met one or two who have heard the hound, and the tramp of the horse, and even seen the dove disappear behind a cloud, and they seemed as anxious to recover them as if they had lost them themselves." -- Henry David Thoreau

Gates isn't stupid. He knew he was in the wrong at the time of the arrest but tried to later invent a "false reason" for others that wouldn't expose his own stupidity (his own arrogant pride). In so doing, he has proven himself to be a man who can no longer be taken seriously on any aspect concerning race relations.

Always On Watch said...

I see today that Rasmussen is showing -11.

Always On Watch said...

Gates had a chip on his shoulder, I think.