I am dumfounded by the reaction of some of my law enforcement colleagues and lay people about the Professor Gates arrest in Cambridge MA. Gates was arrested not for what he did; but for what he did to the cops. My fellow officers, those days are over. Many were quick to defend this Sergeant, pointing to his resume. Give me a break. This was a joint screw up. My point here is not to defend Gates. Unlike the president, I don’t know the man. But I do know policing and the law. And wonderful men or police officers don’t arrest loud mouths for being loud mouths in their own homes. There is no such law in America. Good cops are good cops all of the time; even when they are being insulted by a professor, the town drunk, or a young man, with the crack in his behind in plain view. If this officer can’t take verbal abuse he should get a job as a mechanic or a painter. This whole poor cop story is ridiculous. Why don’t you call your local police or sheriff’s office and have them come arrest you for expressing your thoughts, right or wrong in your own home. This was a joint screw up by the neighbor, the professor, the officer and his back up. Sheriffs and police chiefs should not be backing up wrong, regardless of how popular it seems. That’s called leadership.