Michelle Alexander Quotes

Who will protect the public when the police violate the law?

We've prosecuted police, dozens of them over the years.

Police have been given the very confusing and unpleasant task of being society's char cleaners ... so they lie and stick together.

American police departments, by and large, are less corrupt than any other police departments in the world.

There are 18,000 different police forces in the United States and sometimes something wrong happens.

I don't want the books to become PR exercises for the police; I want to have the freedom to write about cops who cross the line: bad cops.

No officer should be allowed to behave as if they are above the law just because they are responsible for upholding the law. Permitting and protecting even the smallest acts of abuse by a tiny fraction of our officers leads to a culture where extreme acts of abuse are more likely, just like what happened to Laquan McDonald.

In this era of mass incarceration, the police shouldn't be trusted any more than any other witness, perhaps less so.

I think the only thing that's really going to make a change in terms of how we feel as citizens in terms of safety and our relationship with the police is if we start seeing more federal indictments, arrests, and convictions of police officers.

There's good cops and bad cops, and the good cops have to hold the bad cops accountable. We have to hold the bad cops accountable, too.

Police are supposed to protect and serve, but sadly, they protect their self-interest first and foremost.

Law enforcement officers are entrusted with a tremendous responsibility; that is why we hold them to such a high standard. With that said, there are a small number of officers who have not lived up to that standard.

I know there were many good policemen who died doing their duty. Some of the cops were even friends of ours. But a cop can go both ways.

When you have police officers who abuse citizens, you erode public confidence in law enforcement. That makes the job of good police officers unsafe.

I definitely support cop acting more than cops, but all of them ain't bad, just some of them.

An honest cop still can't find a place to go and complain without fear of recrimination. The blue wall will always be there because the system supports it.

How can I make a movie about the violence of the police if the police aren't going to let me film it?

Policemen are seldom tried for their crimes, or indeed, held responsible for what they do, which disturbs the peace and causes distress among the orderly.

I have no hatred for cops. I have hatred for racists and brutal people, but not necessarily the cops. The cops are just doing what they're told to do.

I have absolutely no confidence in the Ferguson police, the county prosecutor.

Did you ever stop to think why cops are always famous for being dumb? Simple. Because they don't have to be anything else.

Calling for police reform is not calling for police retribution.

There is not one single police officer in America that I am not afraid of and not one that I would trust to tell the truth or obey the laws they are sworn to uphold. I do not believe they protect me in any way.

I have a problem with the way the media deals with a lot of law enforcement issues.

There are those who profess to support law enforcement but who have attempted to undermine the efforts of hard-working officers who make difficult decisions.