The professor and the cop, continued

The Prof. Henry Louis Gates and Sgt. James Crowley brouhaha is not about race but arrogance. How dare you question my authority? In another case, a white grandmother was tasered for it.

A cop must be mature enough to handle a situation or find another job. President Obama is right -- it was stupidity.

SHIRLEY ANN HALL, MINNEAPOLIS

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I guess that I don't understand the issue of racial profiling. I always thought that it had to do with the police confronting someone only because of race, akin to "driving while black" where the police stop a car only because the driver is black. However, in the Gates case the police were called to the house as a result of a 911 call.

When they investigate a call concerning someone attempting to break into a home, do the cops have a right to be afraid, or is it just assumption of the risk? Should they just walk up to such a scene and just ask what these people are doing, or should they be prepared to confront a possible life-threatening situation? If the persons of interest are already inside, should the cops just knock on the door and announce their presence, or should they assume that the persons inside are intruders and probably dangerous?

A retired police officer friend of mine has told me that you have to stabilize the situation. If that means handcuffs and arrest then so be it. Everything that I have read indicates that Gates was bellicose and belligerent. How dare this cop ask him for ID. Don't they know who he is? A situation like this can deteriorate very rapidly. Having not been there, I cannot say that everything was handled in the best way, but, racial profiling it was not!

WILLIAM HANSEN, MINNEAPOLIS

•••

Enough with police officers saying how hard the president is making it for them to do their jobs (Letter of the Day, July 27). As the many other officers quoted in the July 26 Star Tribune article have said, the heat Sgt. Crowley got from Prof. Gates comes with the territory.

Those quotes also say officers should have the common sense to understand Gates' pique at being accused of burglary in his own home. A simple, "I'm sorry, sir. Obviously, the situation wasn't as it appeared. We'll leave now," would have sufficed.

KEVIN DRISCOLL, ST. PAUL

•••

"Stupid" or any derivation of the term used publicly by our president isn't going to be swept into oblivion by spins such as "calibrating those words differently." The only way it will go away is for Obama to say something like this:

"I was the stupid one. I never should have commented on something for which I did not have all the facts, even if Professor Gates is my friend. I am sorry, and I sincerely apologize to Officer Crowley, to the Boston Police Department, and to the police forces across our land who often labor in extremely difficult and danger circumstances. The 'teachable moment' is mine."

CAROL JOHNSON, EDEN PRAIRIE

•••

What happened to Professor Gates also happened to me and I am white. I cooperated with the police and was not arrested.

MICHAEL RESIG, CRYSTAL