The high-profile arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. got a little closer to home last week, when Cambridge, Mass., officials appointed Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer to a panel that will explore the “lessons learned— from the controversy.

[IMGCAP(1)]Gates, who is black, was arrested on July 16 at his own home, after a neighbor reported a possible break-in. His case was dismissed, but he accused Cambridge police of racial profiling. The widespread media attention led to a “beer summit— with Gates and the arresting officer at the White House hosted by President Barack Obama and also attended by Vice President Joseph Biden.

Gainer will serve on a 12-member panel headed by Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum. Called the Cambridge Review Committee, it will look at whether the Cambridge Police Department’s policies and procedures should be modified to reflect what was learned after the Gates incident, among other things, Gainer said. Meetings will probably begin in mid-October, he said.

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