Sgt. Crowley Still Doesn't Get It

Analyzing the body language of the beer drinkers at the White House "brew-haha" yesterday, the New York Post today nails it: "O relaxed, sarge guarded, Gates trying." Says a "body language expert" of Sgt. James Crowley's demeanor: "His body language was very defensive ... I didn't see any apologetic body language from the cop."

While Sgt. Crowley claimed after the meeting that there was 'no tension' at the table, pictures of the event speak thousands of words: where Gates appears to be attentive and listening, Sgt. Crowley seems perturbed, slightly above it all, put upon.

Like all defensive posturing, the behavior of the Sgt. as revealed in the photos comes from a place of insecurity. He seems intimidated by the setting -- and all the media exposure -- so, rather than make an effort to appear engaged and relaxed, his back is up. And it's more than just the pix; Sgt. Crowley made clear that he offered no apology.

Gates, meanwhile, was gracious about the Sgt., calling him 'likable.' And that's the irony -- that beneath all the bravado, Sgt. Crowley is said to be a decent and hard-working police officer, even if you wouldn't get that by how he conducted himself the night he arrested Gates, or from his failure to say he's sorry for what happened.

But the bottom line is that the Crowleys of the world too easily drop their normal selves when facing a real-time challenge. Something about their DNA (after all, police officers are drawn to law and order) or their training (or lack thereof) makes them quickly shift from 'nice guy' to 'I'll show em who's boss' mode.

Controlling how we deal with events as they are happening is something everyone should seek to master, especially the police, when reaction can mean the difference between life and death. Unless they are trained (and/or self-restrained) to better deal with situations, relations between the police and everyone, not just blacks and Hispanics, will be less than ideal. I believe this is one of the key 'teachable moments' of this bizarre event.

So while he may be loathe to admit it, one hopes that Sgt. Crowley will think harder and faster about how he reacts next time he's in a situation where cooler heads should prevail. Unfortunately, however, the Sgt.'s language -- both body and verbal -- does not give one reason to think he's learned anything.

Comments

[pdywgn]

There is a simple solution to this entire event. Re-instate the disorderly conduct charge instead of going through the court of public opinion. The DA did both Crowley and Gates a major disservice in dropping the charges as now both are subjected to this BS without having their day in court.

[vsign]

What I learned is that a white police officer better not arrest a black man, no matter if he has been uncooperative in a B & E investigation, is out of control in public on his porch and inciting a crowd with racial language.

This does not apply to any other group. Just black men. They might know the President!

[lovable]

WE ALL KNOW THAT SOME POLICE ABUSE POWER.

IF CROWLEY HAD JUST SAID AFTER HIS MEETING THAT RASCIAL PROFILING DOES EXIST AND HE DID NOT PROFLE AND THEN SLAMMED ALL THE RASCIST LIKE LIMBAUGH / BECK AND THE TRUE RASCIST I WOULD HAVE SYPATHY FOR HIM. BUT HE WILL SOON RUN FOR CONGRESS AS A REPUBLICAN SO HE NEEDS THEI VOTES .

[Ozarks]

I understand that media was allowed 30 seconds for a video shot. Don't think you can judge a man who just sat down with the President and Vice President on his body language during the "start up" , initial contact with these two guys. If you had a full run of the 45 minutes/ they spent together I would suggest you could get a better "read" on Crowley's body language. Anyway, as an expert witness for 25 years I was very impressed with the way Crowley handled himself in handling questions after his opening statements after the meeting.

[reedmaker]

Many people in these comments have mentioned that Gates lied about yelling, and this is being compared to Crowley lying in the police report about being told that "two black men with backpacks" were invading a home.

Crowley LIED In a POLICE REPORT.

I live across from a police station in Brooklyn. I am grateful to all police that they work hard to defend the law and protect us, but the police at my station are loud at all hours of the day and night (in violation of local noise code) and they frequently park illegally, blocking traffic and blocking the fire hydrant across from the station. In other words, they are breaking the law because they know that no one will stop them.

The police abuse power on a regular basis. We have all seen it. In addition to the above mentioned examples, police cars in my neighborhood (with no lights and sirens) regularly run red lights. Clearly this is not in the best interest of public safety.

Because of these things, I don't trust the police to have good judgment or to follow the law. If an officer came into my home uninvited, I would be very frightened because I would have no one to call on for help if they invaded my space and behaved inappropriately. I think this is what happened with Gates. Would I yell in this situation? Yes I would!

It is obvious in this scenario who had power and who abused it.

[JimR]

Gates LIED about his behavior. He said he didn't yell or raise his voice, that he couldn't yell because he had bronchitis. Yet 2 witnesses, Lucia Whalen and Bill Carter, said he was yelling and screaming.

What else did Gates LIE about?

[TRex86]

Obama is an organizer, a negotiater, used to confronting power. He's not out to prove he was right in describing the arrest as behaving "stupidly.­" Nobody wins with that meme. He's after the meta-message: how do we humanize each other so we can get beyond familiar roles and stereotypes? What could each person at that table take away? Presenting the professor away from the cop: perp paradigm was a clear winner, but the reverse is also true. The officer as given ample time to reflect on his power-based conflict resolution method. Ultimately, the way to avoid dueling stereotypes is getting people into their scripts. If a (tired) black professor assumes racial profiling is the case he'll never manage such a situation effectively. Likewise, the police officer needs to get past his assumptions and learn to take pride in defusing rather than escalating situations. Of the four people present his is the greatest challenge, the equivalent of Zen law enforcement.

[vonPinto]

This is the most MATURE post I have seen on this issue so far. Good job TRex86.

[TRex86]

Merci.
RG

[JDM73]

A little food for thought: I've also heard that Crowley is a decent guy, a hard worker, etc...but I wonder who's saying those things? Other cops, who naturally are going to defend him when he's in hot water? Do we really have a balanced picture of who this man is and how he behaves? I saw the same thing the "body language expert" saw--tension and surliness. Pretty typical tough-guy cop stuff. And I'm afraid I can't give Crowley the benefit of the doubt.

[JimR]

I'm afraid I can't give Gates the benefit. A witness outside described Gates as being "agitated" and "slightly out of control." He also said Gates was yelling, even though Gates claimed he was unable to yell because of bronchitis. So we know that Gates lied. What else did Gates lie about?

[maryjflyfree]

since when did being "agitated" and "slightly out of control." become a crime in your own home...??? furthermore reason to arrest an old man? If Gates wrote the police report then I could see your argument.

[BruceHNV]

Nor does Crowley get benefit of the doubt. We know for sure he lied on the police report, claiming that a person who had no firm opinion what race the people she saw were, and who NEVER SPOKE TO HIM at the scene, told him on his arrival that she saw "two black men with backpacks" trying to break into the house. What else did Crowley lie about?

More to the point, however, is that Gates violated the law when he entered the home against the express wishes of the homeowner, and that per the MA supreme court, the offense for which he arrested Gates (yelling at the police) is not a violation of the law.

[GwenWare]

Gates didn't break the law, he's entitled under state law to call it as he see it inside his own home. Crowley tried to cover his backside by lying in a police report. I'm afraid I can't give YOU the benefit of a doubt for rational thinking.

[GwenWare]

Gates didn't break the law, he's entitled under state law to call it as he see it inside his own home. Crowley lied in a police report. I'm afraid I can't give YOU the benefit of a doubt for rational thinking.

[reasonshouldrule]

The tape that was released does not support your point and does support Prof. Gates' point. The outcome here was a false arrest which was dropped at the station. That alone should be enough to prevent your present assumptions.

[FebM]

When will Serg Crowley explain his injection of "two blacks with backpacks" lie in his report?

[JimR]

When will Gates explain why he lied about not yelling, when a witness clearly heard him yelling?

[vonPinto]

You seem to have a problem about yelling.Te­ll me, have you ever yelled in your life?

Unless you are a cop and feels that you are superior to any other American citizen who yells at you, you have absolutely no point in your argument.

You can go on and massage your undercurrent race-based and jaundiced subconsciousness by fixating on "Prof. Gates lying about yelling at Sgt. Crowley" to make you feel good and justified.

[maryjflyfree]

bingo!

[BocaMom]

That's the problem with white policemen! They ALL don't get it! Thank God, there is a New Sheriff in town with Obama as President and Eric Holder as Attorney General. We'll change America!

[maryjflyfree]

Yes WE can!

[AcaciaJules]

What a bigoted statement. You should be ashamed.

[JScott]

Where's Police Woman when ya need her (google it)

[vsign]

Mr Ruiz - I question how good your body language information is.

I am happy Sgt. Crowley stood out from the others. He was very calm and invited more discussion.

Now the others?

Two peas in a pod - the President and Gates. It reminds me of another older black man with a cause against the white race that he wanted to make national.

[bradyd]

Funny because I only seen a Professor with an issue with 1 cop, not an entire ethnicity group. I question how good your objectivity is..

[vsign]

I would have been ready and able to answer questions about breaking into my home. Call a locksmith if you don't want a B & E to be reported.

Why was Gates so aggressively uncooperative and use racial language? Well - he knew the President and knew how effective it was to cry racism in any situation.

[openhand]

Writers talk for a living and police officers walk.
Surely a person is judged by both, but here unfortunately the talkers are judging the walkers.
At least once have empathy, we ask it of our leaders?

The self righteous indignation and the feigning of representing the other side is cynical and transparent.

Our society and the laws that hold it together are fallable, and it is this that is at fault.
How quick we are to point fingers, lest we find that we have a responsibility to this society that sustains us all.

[blindjester]

Anybody can make a mistake, even good guys. Most folks understand that.

An apology would go a long way toward erasing that mistake.

[SouthpawSass]

Let it go... Unless you were sitting there, having a beer with the guys, you have no clue what they were feeling. And going by their body language isn't really journalism, is it, but fiction writing.

Sometimes, just sometimes, if you don't know for sure, it's not worth writing about... Don't you think?

[bradyd]

Sounds like you are not willing to take that advice yourself.

[SouthpawSass]

Raspberries to you bradyd...

[happykiddo]

The real question should be "Why did Professor Gates jump to the conclusion that the police (both white and black were there), was there to harass and racial profile him? Why get upset that they want to see some ID? That is police procedure to check ID at the scene.

The normal American would have cooperated and thanked the men before they left. I know most people on the huff post side with Gates, but I also know that most of you are respectful to the police, especially when they come to your house to check up on a burglary call.

[bradyd]

You will never understand, probably because you can't. I'm interested in knowing why you think the police officer was innocent in all of this? And to cast Gates as not being "normal" makes me wonder if you are normal...

[SouthpawSass]

Hmm, seems you're a bit angry brad. Get too many speeding tickets, there bub?

[JimR]

Agree.

[Klimb]

Why did Sgt Crowley write in his police report that Whalen had told him that there were two black men with backpacks who'd entered the house? Yet, Whalen addressed the press on Thursday by saying that she NEVER told Sgt Crowley anything of that sort...gue­ss that was Sgt Crowley's preconceived idea prior to approaching Prof. Gates...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/07/29/2009-07-29_911_caller_in_gates_case_.html

[marseilles]

Assuming Lucia Whalen is telling the truth, why did Crowley lie that he spoke with her? He lies in the arrest report and later in a media interview he even adds pantomime:

"I turned to see the caller who was standing on the sidewalk, who again repeated to me that she saw two individuals at the front door, and she actually even dipped her shoulder [he dips his shoulder] and she said it looked like they were forcing their way in through the front door. Now this is the front door that I turned my back to when she called me. Um, I asked her to stay right where she was, to wait for the other units to arrive..."

Why did he feel so compelled to lie about speaking with her?

What actually would she have told him, instead of the fictional words he felt compelled to put in her mouth?

[JimR]

Gates said he was not yelling, that he couldn't yell because he had bronchitis. But a witness outside the house clearly heard him yelling. Why did Gates lie? What else is he lying about?

[LauraAgain]

He didn't lie to her; she was standing in front of Gates' house when Crowley showed up and they spoke briefly before he approached the front door.

This fact is undisputed.

[DobleM]

You are wrong. Even Whalen's attorney says that she and Crowley did not speak when he arrived. She motioned to him that she was the one who called 911 and he told her to wait there (on the sidewalk) and ascended the stairs to the Gates house.. That is not "speaking briefly". Therefore, it is not true that "this fact" is undisputed. It is disputed directly by Whalen and her attorney. Go to minute 5:20 and listen to her attorney. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH6SjZ5wEzw

[Klimb]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/07/29/2009-07-29_911_caller_in_gates_case_.html