Racial profiling? Or just bad policing?

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last week or so, you've probably heard about the arrest of renowned Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

On July 16th, Gates was returning from a trip to China. He rolled into his driveway in the back of a livery car and, after clambering out, found that his front door was jammed. He shouldered it open to gain entry to his house - at which point a neighbor of his called the police, reporting 'two men' forcing their way into the house.

Cambridge police officers James Crowley and Sgt. Leon Lashley rolled up a short while later and demanded that Gates step outside the house and show them some valid I.D.

Distraught, Gates accused the police of 'racial bias' and was promptly arrested for 'disorderly conduct,' despite providing his Harvard I.D. (which proved his identity and that he lived at that address.)

The backlash surrounding this arrest was deafening. Even President Obama made a comment, accusing the Cambridge police' of 'acting stupidly' in arresting a man for forcing entry into his own home.

Gates said that his arrest was proof that American police regularly screen suspects based on their race - the general assumption being that the officers were responding to a call because 'two black men' were forcing their way into the home.

Now that the dust has settled, the accusations of 'racial profiling' don't quite add up. Contrary to popular belief, the 911 call that sparked this incident made no reference to the suspects' race - and one of the arresting officers, Sgt. Leon Lashley, was himself black.

However, it still raises troubling issues about the police officer's lack of professionalism, courtesy and respect. The officers were right to investigate the reports of breaking-and-entering - but no matter how antagonistic Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was towards them, they had absolutely no right to arrest him.

He was in his own home and had provided I.D. and proof of residence. Clearly, no crime was committed. Although I have no doubt that Gates was angry, frustrated, antagonistic and rude - and very verbal about it - you can't arrest him for that!

Jon Shane, a17 year veteran of the Newark, New Jersey police department (and professor of criminal justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice) identified Gates behavior as entirely understandable anger at being accosted in his own home. His only 'crime' was the much lauded farce known as 'contempt of cop.'

(Non-violent disrespect by citizens towards police officers is a protected First Amendment right and it is never a viable reason for arresting somebody.)

I think it's wrong to accuse officers Crowley and Lashley of racial profiling - the evidence is strong that race played no part in their initial decision to confront Gates (although it might have prompted them to arrest him later.)

However, they went totally beyond their mandate when they arrested the Harvard professor. That ill-considered decision is very troubling.

It reminds me that American policing is still a bit of a 'wild west' affair - and serves as a cool reminder that you should always treat police officers with reverence and respect (even if, like Gates, you don't think they deserve it.)

Editorial Bear adds: I think it's very wrong that Gates was arrested at all - but his confrontational attitude certainly didn't help the situation. While totally justified in his anger, if Gates had quietly and respectfully acquiesced the officer' s demands, instead of yelling and stomping his feet, it's unlikely he would have been arrested in the first place.

I think it's also very indicative of American society that the neighbor who reported the alleged 'breaking and entering' didn't even recognize her own neighbor - Gates has been living in Harvard for almost 18 years.

Independence Day and the right to Bear Fireworks

Today is a big day in the American calendar. The 4th of July celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, when the fledgling United States of America officially declared their independence from British rule.

It's a national holiday, so I'm able to take a day off from pestering doctors and nurses with my fancy new drugs literature. However, like during most American holidays, the commercial monster doesn't let up and most of the shops and supermarkets are still open.

Since the first anniversary of independence, way back in 1777, fireworks have played a big part of the 4th July celebrations. And in a sketchy scheme straight out of the Dukes of Hazzard, local authorities are anxious to take their piece of the explosives pie.

In New Jersey, fireworks are illegal, plain and simple. You can't buy them. You can't transport them. You can't own them. Firing them off is a pretty risky operation, since the police will be on your doorstep in minutes.

The theory goes that banning fireworks will drive Jersey's residents to officially sanctioned events, like the Auten Road fireworks I blogged about a few days ago.

Yet in the spirit of American independence, residents support their right to bear fireworks as vehemently as their right to bear arms (which is another heavily restricted privilege in New Jersey.)

And this is where the whole operation starts to resemble Prohibition Era bootlegging more than fussy Government bureaucracy.

Because in neighbouring Pennsylvania, it's also illegal for residents to buy, transport, own or explode fireworks. Residents of Pennsylvania, that is. If a New Jersey resident crosses the state line and shows appropriate out-of-state I.D., they can pile up their SUV's with mountains of bottle rockets, M80s and other fireworks. The rule is that they have 24 hours to get them out of the state of Pennsylvania. Where they go and what happens to them... Well, if it's beyond the state line, that's not the authorities problem, is it?

So an emerging market has been created, driving residents of NJ across the state line to enormous fireworks warehouses. Here they can buy hundreds of pounds worth of explosives to take home and detonate in their gardens, just like the founding fathers did two hundred years ago.

Except of course, as soon as you cross the state line back home again, the boxes of bangers in your back seat immediately become illegal merchandise - and canny coppers are waiting to pounce on the border; arresting, impounding and seizing all the illegal merchandise.

Thanks to George Bush's anti terror legislation, you can even get busted on Conspiracy to Cause Explosions if you're carting enough firecrackers. With time behind bars, thousands of dollars worth of fines and the risk of losing your car or truck as deterrents, it's a pretty risky business.

But the challenge itself - and the principle of the matter (when it comes to explosives and guns, Americans stick to their principles) has led more and more New Jersey residents to run the gauntlet. Yesterday, the Home News Tribune reported over 50 arrests and 8,000 lbs of fireworks impounded by local Police in the last month alone.

It's almost as if the danger encourages people to do it. They cook up more and more complex schemes to avoid the Smokeys and get their illegal cargo home. From switching plates (Pennsylvania and New Jersey licence plates) to switching cars (renting them in Pennsylvania and leaving your Jersey car on the border) there are all sorts of permutations to be plotted to avoid the cops.

Yet police are getting more and more devious as well. The current plan is to leave an unmarked car in the Fireworks Warehouse parking lot and radio in the Jersey plates as and when they drive off. Police Cruisers will be waiting for the offenders as soon as they drive over the state lines.

It really is straight out of Smokey and the Bandit or the Dukes of Hazzard. It makes a mockery out of the law - which was pretty much a sham to begin with. Just like Boss Hogg's schemes were generally crooked ways to raise revenue, the more obscure state and county laws seem focused on massive fines and impounding property rather than protecting the public and serving the community.

One thing's for certain. Even the most law abiding New Jersey residents have a sneaking respect for the fireworks smugglers - and there will be far more fireworks displays this holiday weekend than the official ones sanctioned by the New Jersey authorities.