reasonable the request. The home is my refuge, it is where I can be who I want to be and I don't care what you think of how I am behaving, it is my right.

You keep saying he didn't comply - Crowley's own report doesn't support that and bear in mind, Crowley wrote this to put himself in the best light possible. Crowley reported that initially, Gates refused and then he gave his ID. That means that he did comply.

And that is when this whole thing should have come to an end - when Crowley should have tried to diffuse the situation by apologizing for any inconvenience; by offering his business card with his name, badge number and an incident number while explaining how Gates can get a copy of the report if he needs; and then by exiting the house and leaving the property (using the techniques he should be teaching the academy cadets he trains).

Crowley didn't do that, he called for Harvard University Police to come to the scene, continuing the "intrigue", escalating the situation.

Crowley was the professional who had a duty to the citizen, even if the citizen was rude. He should operate under a higher degree of professionalism than he showed and higher than expected from the citizen.

A well trained and skilled professional would have done several things differently, should have done things differently.

For a start, when Crowley got the call from dispatch he should have recognized the address and realized it was most likely Harvard housing. He should have asked dispatch to contact Harvard University PD to find out if it was one of Harvard's houses and to get the name of the resident along with a description so that when he arrived on the scene, if he found anyone who claimed to be the resident then he could know if the descriptions match. You know, if the resident was a 50 year old white woman, chances are the two black males reported on the property might not belong there as the complaining party feared. He also should have asked dispatch to have the Harvard cops meet him on the scene if it was one of their houses.

Freedom of speech and free to be secure in my home, those are big deal constitutional rights and I don't care what you think of his social skills, they were Gates' rights. We are not, by our own constitution, required to act any certain way. Though you may wish it were, the USA has not yet become a police state.

Crowley screwed up, he didn't do the job he is allegedly trained to do (and that he trains other to do). To add to the huge failure as to how he handled the call, he arrested Gates and charged him with a crime that was not committed and as it appears from the comment Crowley was to have made when he cuffed Gates, the arrest was in retaliation for Gates behavior inside. Just yet another constitutional violation.