Jul 23, 2009 5:41 pm US/Eastern
Top Cop: Officers 'Deflated' By Obama Remark
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas says his officers were deeply hurt and deflated by President Obama's comment that they acted "stupidly" by arresting a Harvard professor.
WBZ
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Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley speaks to WBZ Radio July 23, 2009.
WBZ
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Henry Louis Gates Jr. mug shot from Cambridge Police.
Cambridge Police/WBZ
The Cambridge police commissioner said his department is "deeply pained" and his officers were "deflated" by President Barack Obama's statement that they "acted stupidly" when they arrested a renowned black scholar in his home.
Commissioner Robert Haas commended the arresting officer,
Sgt. James Crowley, as a decorated officer and said his actions were in no way motivated by racism.
"I believe that Sgt. Crowley acted in a way that is consistent with his training at the department and consistent with the national standards of law enforcement protocol," Haas said.
Watch Commissioner's full news conference
Crowley, who is white, has been a lightning rod for criticism after arresting Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his home last week. Police say Gates flew into a verbal rage when officers asked him for identification while investigating a report of a break-in at his home.
On Wednesday, the president said officers "acted stupidly" in arresting his friend. On Thursday, he softened his stance and said
cooler heads should have prevailed.
Crowley, 42, has maintained he did nothing wrong and has refused to apologize, as Gates has demanded.
Crowley responded to Gates' home near Harvard University last week to investigate a report of a burglary and demanded Gates show him identification. Police say Gates at first refused, flew into a rage and accused the officer of racism.
Gates was charged with disorderly conduct. The charge was dropped Tuesday.
When asked why the charge was dropped if Crowley did nothing wrong, Haas said, "We basically felt this was a situation we needed to move on from -- that we didn't need this to be a prolonged sitaution, and we needed to focus back on what we do in terms of providing safety and protection for this community."
Gates' supporters maintain his arrest was a case of racial profiling. Officers were called to the home by a woman who said she saw "two black males with backpacks" trying to break in the front door. Gates has said he arrived home from an overseas trip and the door was jammed.
Obama was asked about the arrest of Gates, who is his friend, at the end of a nationally televised news conference on health care Wednesday night.
"I think it's fair to say, No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry," Obama said. "No. 2, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And No. 3 -- 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."
Asked about how he and his officers felt after Obama's remark, Haas said, "This department is deeply pained and takes its professional pride seriously."
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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