Second Harvard professor accuses police of bias

[babylonsister]

Second professor accuses police of bias
Harvard official asserts racism in 2006 arrest
By Tracy Jan
Globe Staff / August 6, 2009


A second black Harvard professor accused the Cambridge police of racism yesterday in wrongfully arresting him outside his home nearly three years ago.

S. Allen Counter, a prominent Harvard Medical School professor and head of the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, spoke about his arrest on assault and battery charges in an editorial published yesterday with The Bay State Banner. The disclosure follows last month’s high-profile arrest of renowned African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Counter’s attorney, Ozell Hudson Jr., told the Globe yesterday that Counter is considering his legal options over the manner he says he was treated after he complied with a request to step outside his house in December 2006 when police arrived to investigate a call by his former wife. She reported to police that Counter had tried to push their teenage daughter out of a moving car during an argument.

Counter said he had not previously publicized the arrest because he feared that police would harass him and his family. But he told Harvard colleagues about the incident and said he felt he had been mistreated because he is black. Counter said he was not told why police were at his home nor why he was being arrested.

more...

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/08/06/second_harvard_professor_accuses_police_of_bias/

[BlooInBloo]

1. There's little benefit in reporting such things to white folks, I've noticed.

[masuki bance]

2. Hey, trying to push people out of moving cars is no big deal.

What were they thinking?

[babylonsister]

4. And why do you assume his ex-wife was telling the truth? Per the

article...

He was ultimately acquitted of the assault and battery charges during an October 2007 trial.

[jberryhill]

5. At the time of an arrest, that's not the relevant question

Typically, in domestic disturbance calls, if one spouse reports physical abuse, the other one gets arrested.

[EFerrari]

7. That's right and it's about insurance and liability, not about law enforcement. n/t

[pnwmom]

8. The point is the police have to act on the complaints involved; it's not their job

to decide the guilt or innocence of the accused.

[EFerrari]

12. It is their job to determine probable cause or I could call them on you

or anyone right now and expect an arrest.

[pnwmom]

17. When a mother and daughter accuse a father of trying to push the child out of

a moving vehicle, that SHOULD give the police probable cause to arrest the man.

[EFerrari]

18. Really? So what you're saying is, any report about you

should be taken seriously and you should be arrested?

If I call 911 right now and say I saw you heading next door with a butcher knife, you should be arrested?

I hope you like room temperature baloney sandwiches because that's where the logic goes.

[pnwmom]

19. So you're comfortable with police ignoring charges of domestic violence? n/t

[EFerrari]

20. Between ignoring and arresting innocent people, there is what police are supposed to do.

And you're lecturing the wrong person about domestic violence.

[EFerrari]

6. Right. And taking the word of someone with an axe to grind

is no big deal either. Just arrest the guy. If he has to live with a false arrest on his record, that's his problem. Yeah, he was humilated, traumatized, probably lost some work time and had to be in jail with criminals but hey, better safe than sorry.

:sarcasm:

[fascisthunter]

9. you know what's really interesting?

"he was humilated, traumatized, probably lost some work time and had to be in jail with criminals"

Reverse the roles. Say I or you decided to do those things to a cop? There is a real authoritarian mentality in this country. It's a bit sickening.

[EFerrari]

11. It's staggering, the things we just accept.

We accept bad arrests and forget about the one to three days that an innocent person can be abused and jacked around before some one "upstairs" figures out it's bullshit.

What IS THAT?

[TexasObserver]

3. recommend

[fascisthunter]

10. wow!

these cops are really dumb

[EFerrari]

13. I don't think so. They have been told to mind their liability.

It's about their insurance. We've been sold so far down the river, we can't even see the river from here.

[EFerrari]

14. And this isn't the neuro sci professor that was threatened with arrest

when he was stopped in Harvard Yard and didn't have his ID on him.

Or the black kid that was unlocking his own bike and was surrounded by cops with their guns drawn.

Yeah, Harvard has a f#cking problem. That should be obvious by now. :grr:

[Uzybone]

15. handcuffed to the hospital bed and guarded. WTF?

"Counter collapsed at the police station because of a heart condition and was transported to Cambridge Hospital, where he said he was handcuffed to a hospital bed all night while a police officer stood guard in his room. He was ultimately acquitted of the assault and battery charges during an October 2007 trial."

[EFerrari]

16. Dr. Gates was having respiratory problems until one of his friends

showed up and screamed for medial care.

How long will these people get lucky? :grr:

[Obamanaut]

21. Maybe he's looking to have a beer at the White House. nt