Records: Mass. sergeant cleared in bias complaints

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Internal affairs files show that a white Massachusetts police sergeant whose arrest of a black Harvard professor ignited a national furor was twice before accused of racial bias, but cleared in both cases.

Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley arrested Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home last month while investigating a possible burglary. The charge against Gates was dropped, and he alleged he was a victim of
racial profiling.

The internal affairs files were released Wednesday in response to public records requests by The Boston Globe and Boston Herald. They showed two of eight citizen complaints filed against Crowley over his 11-year career involved black males.

Police Commissioner Robert Haas says the number of complaints stemmed from fewer than 1 percent of the cases in which Crowley has been involved.