National panel picked to review Gates arrest
Police procedure among the topics
CAMBRIDGE - The Philadelphia police commissioner, a retired federal judge, and the US Senate sergeant-at-arms are part a team of scholars and law enforcement specialists selected to review the Henry Louis Gates Jr. case, which catapulted Cambridge into the national spotlight and sparked a debate about race and police relations .
Cambridge’s police commissioner, Robert C. Haas, announced the names of the 12-member Cambridge Review Committee yesterday, saying that the independent body was born out of a sincere desire to learn lessons from the Gates case and provide guidance for changes going forward.
“I need to get us to a place where we are building stronger community partnerships,’’ Haas said in an interview at police headquarters yesterday.
The diverse panel includes five African-Americans, one Hispanic, and six whites. Among the members are Charles H. Ramsey, Philadelphia’s police commissioner; Judge Joyce Alexander, who retired as the longest-serving magistrate at the US District Court of Massachusetts; and Terrance Gainer, the US Senate sergeant-at-arms.
Gates was arrested July 16 at his Cambridge home after a woman notified police about a possible break-in. Gates had said his arrest was a case of racialprofiling - a contention rejected by the arresting officer, Sergeant James Crowley. President Obama stoked the flames when he said Cambridge police had acted “stupidly.’’ He later calmed the furor by hosting the two men for beer at the White House.
In addition to determining the lessons learned from the case, the committee will address a range of issues including how the department should modify procedures; how issues of race, class, and interpersonal conflict should be included in officers’ training; and how to better appreciate the cultural and social complexities of the residents who interact with police.
Chuck Wexler, who is chairing the committee, said the panel will hold its first meeting next month to discuss its mission and goals. Members hope to interview Gates and Crowley and get input from residents.
The committee expects to produce a report in four months. The other members are:
■ Stacy Blake-Beard, an associate professor at the Simmons College School of Management.
■ John Gallagher, a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia.
■ Marian Darlington-Hope, a Cambridge resident and an assistant professor at Lesley University.
■ John Farmer Jr., dean and law professor at Rutgers School of law.
■ Tracey L. Meares, deputy dean and professor at Yale Law School.
■ Jack McDevitt, an associate dean who directs Northeastern University’s Institute on Race and Justice and the Center for Criminal Justice Policy Research.
■ John Kosko, a Cambridge resident and retired school administrator.
■ Aaron David Miller, a public policy fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.
■ Louis F. Quijas, president of North American operations at Datong Electronics and a former North Carolina police chief.
Meghan E. Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com. 
