Ted Wheeler Quotes

We hoped against hope that what we had been doing was enough to prevent a riot. It was not enough.

We took an approach, supported by the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and the Mayor for London, that we had very real fears of violence and damage being caused across the streets of London.

With four of the top ten most violent cities in America, Michigan will never fully flourish unless our governments can fulfill their basic task: protecting public safety.

The power to prevent violence is a power that no police force seems to have anywhere in the United States.

We shall guard as zealously the rights of the striker as those of the employer. But when riot is menaced it is different. The mob takes its own chance. Order will be kept at whatever cost. If it comes to shooting we shall shoot to hit. No blank cartridges or firing over the head.

The occupant should take all due and needful measures to restore and ensure public order and public safety.

Soldiers quartered in a populous town will always occasion two mobs where they prevent one. They are wretched conservators of the peace.

Instead of personal security, citizens are afraid to walk down the street in Jerusalem.

Tackling violence on our streets is a complex problem, and we need not only all parties, but whole communities to come together to tackle it.

I would have handled it differently than the mayor of Baltimore, that's for sure. I think it's a mistake to say, hey, guys, you can pillage the city for a while and we'll let that go, and we'll be sort of standing back. I think it's also important to know some of the underlying causes of why there's unease in our country.

Every cop will tell you that their real job is being a social worker. That's what they do all day. The large majority of police officers in this country never even draw their gun, let alone fire it. They do conflict resolution, right? And if that's their job, why do they need to look like they're an occupying force?

We have gangs roaming the street. And in many cases, they're illegally here, illegal immigrants. And they have guns. And they shoot people. And we have to be very strong. And we have to be very vigilant.

I urge the citizens of Ferguson who have been peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights to join with law enforcement in condemning the actions of looters, vandals and others seeking to inflame tensions and sow discord.

But on second thought, after I decreed the state of emergency, I came to the conclusion that that was impossible to achieve without bloodshed because the street protesters were full of anger and nearly out of control. This is why I thought we needed to find another way out.

My earnest hope is that what we started in terms of building partnerships with communities across America will continue, that we will continue our efforts to reduce crime and violence.

France is a pretty stable democracy, but incidents occur. And I was pleased to have police accompaniment.

We need to get serious about combating gang violence on Long Island, and the entire nation.

I mean that the function of the police is to solve problems that have law-enforcement consequences in a way that is based on a genuine partnership with the neighborhood in both the venting of the problem and the discussion of the solution.

It's basically taking a 911 call, bringing them on stage and dealing with it just like when I was a Chicago policeman for 12 years. I personally become involved. Where Jerry lets people tell their story and lets everything happen on stage, I kind of go after the bad guy and protect the little guy.

What police do is not really about force. Police preserve peace and order principally by educating, leading, persuading people to cooperate in a peaceful community. Any veteran officer will tell you that the essential police skill is talking to people. That is especially true for dealing with young people, who ... no one else really talks to at all.

Shoot to maim or cripple anyone looting any stores in our city.

This administration and the people of Chicago have never condoned brutality at any time, but they will never permit a lawless violent group of terrorists to menace the lives of millions of people, destroy the purpose of this national political convention, and take over the streets of Chicago.

There is no American right to loot stores, or to burn buildings, or to fire rifles from the rooftops. That is crime—and crime must be dealt with forcefully and swiftly, and certainly—under law.

When violence strikes [riots], then those in public responsibility have an immediate ... job, not to analyze, but to end disorder.

It seems to us that the rowdy class of New York has always been dealt with too tenderly. Their promiscuous stabbing affrays have come to be regarded too much in the light of a venial offense, attributable simply to a little harmless exuberance of the spirits, or, it might be, an extra glass of liquor.