Disorderly Conduct is the Problem

Gates Learned What Every Homeless Person Knows: Don't Ask a Police Officer for His Name or Badge

"She says now on these streets, Charles
You got to understand the rules
Promise me if an officer stops you'll always be polite
Never ever run away and promise momma you'll keep your hands in sight."
Bruce Springsteen "American Skin/41 Shots"

I believe that there was an element of racism in the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. this last week, but the heart of the issue is that police across America abuse the disorderly conduct statutes. As any homeless person can tell you, disorderly is the catch-all for arrest anytime that a police officer does not want to deal with you. They arrest at political rallies for disorderly conduct. They arrest anyone that questions their authority and charge them with disorderly conduct. They know that this means that the person has to post bond, go to court, and usually hire an attorney. For homeless people it means at least 24 hours in jail or 60 hours if it is Friday.

I read the police report on the Smoking Gun website, and even if we accept everything in there was the gospel truth from this Irish Catholic officer, there is nothing that I read that would provoke an arrest. Gates is under no obligation to leave his own house. He is allowed to ask if the officer was doing this because of Professor Gate's race. The owner of a house has the right to ask for the police officer to show identification (a badge) as a condition for showing their own identification. The officer admitted in the report that he realized that Gates was affiliated with Harvard, and that he was most likely the individual he purported to be. Did the officer feel in danger because of the "Mama" crack? Was Gates arrested because he spoke loudly that drew a crowd? Officer Crowley warned Gates twice to calm down and when Gates did not calm down he was arrested. Gates, who walks with a cane and has gray hair, was no threat to anyone. He was not threatening anyone else, and he was just questioning the officer. He was loud, but he was not provoking a riot nor was he in fact disorderly.

The message is loud and clear: an African American in America has no right to question any police officer (black or white). In my experience, a well dressed white guy can get away with questioning an officer about 25% of the time, but a person living in poverty has no chance to question police/fire/EMS or in fact any government official. There was a good discussion on All Things Considered today with two police officers about disorderly conduct. My advice to avoid jail: get the car number instead--it is much bigger than the badge number. If the police officer does get disorderly, file a report with the police. Typically, a citizen can file a police report at any station to avoid having to face any potential conflict with the antagonist or his or her supervisor. At least in Cleveland, these complaints are handled effectively and they do investigate these complaints. Finally, I advise avoiding any confrontation directly with a police officer, because disorderly conduct can mean anything.

My question is why do the judges allow officers to issue all these harassing arrests? Why can't we reform the abuse of disorderly conduct? How often are police the disorderly party in these confrontations? I hope that this incident in Cambridge sparks some discussion of reforming the disorderly conduct statutes.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.