The International Union of Police Associations responded to the Cambridge incident involving a police offer and a Harvard professor writing that it is disappointed on president Obama's careless words in a statement. President Barack Obama has invited Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr and Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley for a sit-down conversation at the White House, state Sen. Anthony Galluccio confirmed, reports WBZTV.
The International Union of Police Associations Statement
By now, everyone knows that on July 16th, in the early afternoon, Professor Henry Gates was arrested at his home and charged with Disorderly Conduct and “loud and tumultuous behavior” by the Cambridge Police Department after they had responded to his home following a neighbor reporting a possible break in there. We may never learn all of the details of the case because the City Attorney declined to file the charges. The matter will not be aired in court, at least not in a criminal courtroom. The police report is, as most of them are, concise and to the point. Many are disturbed by the event. Some in the black community see it as yet another example of the plight of the “black man in America.” The Reverend Al Sharpton, as expected, has also weighed into the fray and made accusations of “racism.” We note that the arresting sergeant in this matter gave mouth to mouth resuscitation to a Celtics’ basketball player named Reggie Lewis, a black man, some 16 years ago. To this point, as far as we are concerned, this is business as usual. A misdemeanor arrest was made, charges were dropped, and both sides screamed foul – and so it goes - until the President of the United States, in a prime time news conference, having no more information than the rest of us, made a remarkable and regrettable comment on the arrest. After acknowledging that he did not have all the facts, he stated,
“Now, I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that, but I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, number three, what I think we know, separate and apart from this incident, is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. And that’s just a fact.”
We recognize and applaud all of the favorable things that this Congress and Administration have done for the law enforcement community. We are, however, disappointed that President Obama was as careless in his words as to characterize the actions of the Cambridge Police in such a derogatory manner before all of the facts were known. Some might point their finger in another direction when asked who behaved inappropriately during the confrontation. Those of us who were not there and were not yet privy to all of the facts, did well to withhold judgment until those facts were known.
Contact: Rich Roberts, P.I.O.
Phone: 941-487-2560 Ext.111
E-Mail: rico45acp@aol.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Cell: 941-586-3658
I.U.P.A.'s history began in 1954 when the union was known as the National Conference of Police Associations (N.C.P.A.). The N.C.P.A. was developed in response to the demands of the law enforcement profession that was changing so quickly, especially in the areas of collective bargaining and benefits. It was apparent that police officers were in need of the support and services that only the AFL-CIO could provide through the auspices of other police officers. In 1966, the N.C.P.A. amended its by-laws to allow a number of local Canadian police associations to affiliate and N.C.P.A. became known as the International Conference of Police Associations. The I.C.P.A. declined to ally itself with the AFL-CIO, so the member organizations that wanted AFL-CIO affiliation created the International Union of Police Associations (I.U.P.A.).
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