Al Sharpton Quotes

Calling for police reform is not calling for police retribution.

There's one overriding issue, namely, that we live in a police state so long as the police get to police themselves. And that is why cops go unindicted.

When the culture of police departments is sometimes infused with bias or preconceived ideas against certain groups, there needs to be reform and retraining throughout. And unfortunately, we cannot rely on local departments to police themselves; we need intervention from the top.

I think we need to rethink our ideas about what policing is and should be. I think we need to rethink our ideas about the criminal justice system as a whole, including the hysterically named corrections system. I mean, what's being corrected? Look, none of it's working.

I intend to introduce legislation that will make police accountable for their actions and limit uses of force in cases where it is unnecessary.

I'll lift up the good work that is happening and hold officers or departments that engage in unconstitutional policing accountable.

When you say you want to talk about racial justice, that's not the same as I want to do something about racial justice. Saying I want to hold police accountable is doing something. Saying that I want to take money out of politics, big money, is doing something.

What we need in our countries is a good police force with a civilian mentality and some cheap light arms, not an army that needs to maintain its power with sophisticated weapons

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

In order for us to respect law enforcement, it is necessary for law enforcement to respect us.

When I was a kid the police just whupped you. Today, they whup you, and then they arrest you in order to protect themselves.

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

Reform in a profession that doesn’t need to be reformed is not the answer to fight crime.

An increase in press coverage of police shootings isn’t the same thing as an increase in police shootings.

Police reform is working, and crime is falling.

There's a lot of things that need to change. One specifically? Police brutality.

What we're dealing with is institutional, and unless systems are put into place that will ensure accountability, we can expect racially biased police practices to continue.

Communities do need police, but law enforcement needs to be much more transparent and held accountable for their actions. We also need increased resources for mental health services, affordable housing, education, jobs training, and much more to truly address social and economic issues in our communities.

I don't support defunding the police.

We are demanding police transparency and accountability so we can build trust and work together to make our communities safer.

A major loss by a Democratic prosecutor at the hands of the BLM movement could alter the political landscape in a way that might actually change the way prosecutors, and ultimately police departments, operate.

Dismantle DHS' is merely an echo of 'Abolish ICE' and 'Defund the Police.'

If you're quiet, knowing that there's a culture of racism inside most police departments, and you're not saying anything, you are on the wrong side of history.

There's more we can do as a community to try to change what policing looks like in our cities.

I do not support the idea of defunding police departments. I believe that it does nothing to solve the root problems we must address and it makes our communities less safe.