Police unions plan press conference to react to Obama, Patrick

By Globe Staff

Cambridge police unions have scheduled a press conference this afternoon to defend the officer who arrested an African-American scholar last week at his home near Harvard Square.

At the press conference at the Hotel Marlowe, the police associations plan "to voice their support for Cambridge Police Sgt. James M. Crowley and to respond to criticism voiced by Governor Deval Patrick and President [Barack] Obama," according to a press released issued this morning.

Crowley is expected to attend the press conference but will not speak, according to the release. The press conference will include Dennis O'Connor, president of the Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association; Steve Killian, president of the Cambridge Police Patrol Officers Association; and Harold MacGilvray, president of the Massachusetts Municipal Police Coalition, which was described as an association of 25 police organizations from Greater Boston.