BOSTON -- President Barack Obama said Friday that he spoke to Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley and said he is an "outstanding officer" and a "good man."

Crowley arrested Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home near the school last week, an incident that has spurred a national debate on race relations and law enforcement in the United States.

Earlier in the week, Obama admitted he did not know all the facts of the case, but said the Cambridge police "acted stupidly" during the incident.

"In my choice of words, I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sgt. Crowley specifically, and I could have calibrated those words differently. And I told this to Sgt. Crowley," Obama said Friday.

Gates was arrested after he tried to force open the front door of his Cambridge home on July 16. A passer-by saw the Harvard scholar trying to gain access to the home and called police, thinking a burglary was in process.

What transpired between police and Gates inside the home that resulted in the professor being lead away in handcuffs. The incident has been a point of contention for the two parties, erupting in a national debate that has even reached the White House. Gates claims that Crowley is a "rogue cop" and the arrest was driven by racism and racial profiling; police maintain Gates was disturbing the peace and the arrest was justified.

"I feel that he was probably tired and he was surprised to see Officer Crowley in his house, and his reaction was a little stranger than it normally would have been," said Cambridge police Sgt. Leon Lashley, who is black and was at the home with Crowley during the incident.

Obama said he still believes there was an "overreaction" in arresting Harvard's Gates, but on Friday he said there was probably an overreaction on both sides.

"I continue to believe, based on what I have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling Gates out of his home to the station. I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, that professor Gates probably overreacted as well," Obama said.

Obama said he would be open to having both men to the White House "for a beer."

"My sense is you've got two good people in a circumstance in which neither of them were able to resolve the incident in the way that it should have been resolved, and the way they would have liked it to be resolved," Obama said.

Local law enforcement officials said Friday that they deeply resent the suggestion that race played a role in the arrest, and asked Obama and Gov. Deval Patrick to apologize for comments union leaders called insulting.

Patrick called the arrest "every black man's nightmare."

"It is noteworthy that both qualified their statements by saying that they did not have all the facts. Usually when one hears those words, one would expect the next words will be, 'So I cannot comment.' Instead, both officials, both admitted friends of professor Gates, proceeded to insult the handling of this case by the Cambridge Police Department," said Sgt. Dennis O'Connor, the president of the Cambridge Superior Officers Association.

"Our view is that we think if Gov. Patrick and the president review all the facts, which they had not when they made the off-the-hip remarks that they would have commented differently. We are hopeful that upon reflecting that they will realize their statements were misguided and will take appropriate action in the form of an apology," said the department's attorney Alan MacDonald.

The Cambridge police maintain that arresting officer Crowley did what he had to do.

"I feel that (Gates) was probably tired and he was surprised to see Officer Crowley in his house, and his reaction was a little stranger than it normally would have been," said Cambridge police Sgt. Leon Lashley.

Lashley, who is black, was at the home with Crowley during the incident.

"I know what (Crowley) did and I support what he did 100 percent," Lashley said.

Crowley was present at Friday's press conference, but did not make any statements and did not answer any questions.

"I think when the time is right, they should make an apology to us. I think the president should make an apology to all law enforcement personnel who took offense to this," said Steve Killian, president of the Cambridge Police Patrol Officers Association.

"The facts of this case suggest that the president used the right adjective, but directed to the wrong party," O'Connor said.

"It is unfortunate that he said what he said. I would give him a mulligan and let him take it back. Everyone makes mistakes," Lashley said.

The department may release Crowley's radio transmission, which the commissioner said is key to the case and support the sergeant's decision.

The commissioner is also putting together a panel of experts to review the case and possibly change standards and procedures.