President Obama got it pretty much right the first time, before there had been a huge outcry about our President criticizing a police office.  Officer Crowley acted stupidly-and, might I add, wrongly-when arresting Professor Gates.

The important facts are these- Officer Crowley (white) responded to a potential breaking and entering complaint, found Professor Gates (black) in his own home, where had had id proving who he was and that this was his address, and, after not assaulting or in any other way posing a direct danger to Officer Crowley, was arrested for disorderly conduct, handcuffed, booked, brought to the police station, and spent a few hours in a jail cell before the charges were dropped.

That’s it.  That’s what counts.  The racial part may or may not be important.  Let’s be honest-we can assume, but no one knows for sure.*  That’s part of what makes combatting racism so difficult.  It’s like global warming.  You can’t say for sure that this hurricane was caused by global warming, you can just say that the increasing prevalence and strength of hurricanes is due to global warming.  Similarly, you can’t say that Officer Smith pulled over Mr. Jones because Mr. Jones is Latino or African-American and the white Officer Smith is racist.  But you can say that the fact that police are far, far more likely to pull over a Latino or African-American is due to a whole lotta racism.

But whether or not Officer Crowley was informed by any racial prejudices, the fact is, he acted wrongly.  Professor Gates may have as well.  Perhaps he yelled more than he should have.  Perhaps he made assumption that he should have.  Maybe he was mean.  But that doesn’t really matter.  Our media, always in love with balance, seems to be sticking with this narrative that Mistakes Were Made, and everyone was wrong.  Politicians, too.  And that may be true, but it still doesn’t excuse the actions of the police officer.  Police, with their increased power over us, need to be held to a higher standard in terms of fairness and temper, and it’s time we acknowledge that.

Obama said that Officer Crowley and Professor Gates both overreacted.  And that’s probably true.  But it’s irrelevant.  You know why?  Because when Gates overracted Crowley may have gotten some hurt feelings and been in a bad mood for the rest of the day.  When Crowley overreacted, Gates, an innocent, law-abiding, citizen got stuck in a police car, taken to a station, and put in a jail cell for four hours.  You don’t think that was a harrowing, humiliating experience?  And it could have been much, much worse.  After all, this is hardly the first instance of the police “overreacting” in the last few years.

Police don’t get to overreact.  It is a luxury that they don’t have.  They don’t get to overreact because when they do so, they are no longer protecting us, they are putting us all in danger.  If you have a gun, and a taser, and the power to throw someone in jail, you need to make sure that you don’t fly off the handle.  No matter how bad a day you’re having, no matter how pissed you get at someone, no matter how mouthy someone is.

Police officers, of course, deserve our respect.  All civil servants do.  But that doesn’t mean they’re always right.  In fact, making that assumption is downright dangerous.  It is important to question authority, and to police the police.  Officer Crowley is wrong.  And it’s not a crime to say it.

*Disclaimer aside, I find it very difficult to believe that race wasn’t involved somehow.