Harry S. Truman Quotes

We can only have true public safety with public trust.

Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on.

Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced

We are safer when communities respect the police and the police respect the communities.

Having the support of our communities is absolutely essential to productive and sustainable crime prevention efforts. While there are law enforcement agencies that have meaningful and transparent relationships with all segments of their communities, it is fair to say that there are other agencies that need to further enhance relationships and build trust within their communities, particularly among disenfranchised segments.

The police protect us, and we're going to protect the police.

New Yorkers must be able to trust the men and women of the NYPD. They must come forward to report crimes. And they must come forward as witnesses.

Everybody has a stake in the story of policing.

We have to restore trust between communities and the police.

We're now going to develop the standards on transparency, data collection for police, but the whole goal is to fully integrate the police into the community because everybody has the same goals.

So the first task of a police force is not to fight crime and enforce the law. It is to establish legitimacy with the law-abiding citizenry and then fight crime and enforce the law.

Police ought to protect communities as well as individuals.... Just as physicians now recognize the importance of fostering health rather than simply treating illness, so the police - and the rest of us - ought to recognize the importance of maintaining, intact, communities without broken windows.

We have greater awareness of where we're falling short than we used to. Just take the example of community police relations.

We need to demilitarize local police departments so that they do not look like occupying armies. We want police departments that look like the communities they are serving.

Society questions the police and their methods, and the police say, Do you want the criminals off the street or not?

There are not enough jails, not enough policemen, not enough courts to enforce a law not supported by the people.

Officers can't use drugs. The citizens of this city must have a feel—knowledge—that their police officers are drug free.

Order is said to exist where the people of the country have, as a general rule, ceased to prosecute their quarrels by private force, and acquired the habit of referring the decision of their disputes and the redress of their injuries to the public authorities.

We cannot expect people to have respect for law and order until we teach respect to those we have entrusted to enforce those laws.

What I have seen in my travels across this country is the dedication, the commitment, and the resolve of our brave men and women in law enforcement to improving policing, to embracing the 21st Century Task Force recommendations, and to continuing to have a dialogue that makes our country safer for all.

I admire law enforcement agents who put their lives on the line to enforce the law while building trust and understanding within a community and around the world. I honor those who seek justice for all the people of this country.

Building trust between law enforcement officers and the communities we serve is one of my highest priorities as attorney general.

True public safety requires a collaboration between law enforcement and the community.

Here in Washington State, I've supported efforts to provide our law enforcement with the proper training and resources required to meet their changing and demanding needs of their job. In doing so, I feel that the community and the law enforcement relationship will gratefully benefit from a renewed sense of responsibility and accountability.

Police can't be successful if they're not viewed as legitimate by the community, and a community will not be safe if the police are not engaged in a respectful, constitutional partnership with the community.