Officer James Crowley

Cambridge Police Sergeant James M. Crowley was the officer who arrested Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates in July 2009.

Gates was arrested on the porch of his Cambridge house for disorderly conduct. Responding to a 911 call of a possible break-in in progress, Officer Crowley asked Gates for identification. Gates, who had just pried open his stuck front door, became upset and accused the officer of being racist.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/us/22gates.html?em The charges against the professor were dropped but he pressed Officer Crowley for an apology. Crowley insists he is not racist and refused to apologize.http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/07/officer_in_gate.html