CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas says the officer who arrested a black Harvard scholar last year "was acting as he was trained," but acknowledged there should be alternative responses to similar situations.
Haas spoke Wednesday after release of an independent review that found both Sgt. James Crowley and Henry Louis Gates Jr. could have diffused the situation before it led to Gates' arrest.
Crowley arrested Gates for disorderly conduct at his home July 16 while investigating a possible burglary. Gates alleged he was a victim of racial profiling. Charges against him were later dropped.
Review panel chairman Charles Wexler says both men realized the incident was going downhill within six to eight seconds, but saw the situation differently.
