Police Powers Quotes

I think one of the great things about the United States has been our ability to maintain a distinction between our military and domestic law enforcement.

The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort. And only in the most urgent and dire of situations.

With police wielding unprecedented powers to invade privacy, tap phones and conduct searches seemingly at random, our civil liberties are in a very precarious condition.

We passed important laws to give the authorities responsible for investigation wide powers to defend us.

Where in the Constitution does it give the federal government the right to be involved with crime control to begin with.

Congress constitutionally lacks general police powers.

It is a fundamental principle of American law that the regulation of the local police of all the domestic affairs of a State belong to the State itself, and not to the Federal Government.

I am not yet ready to agree that America is so possessed with evil that we must level all constitutional barriers to give our civil authorities the tools to catch criminals.

In liberal societies we don't typically require citizens to rearrange their activities, their lives, the way they go about their business, to make it easy for the police to do their work.

Britain's anti-terror laws are an affront to democracy.

Taking legislative authority away from the federal government doesn't necessarily mean freer individuals. It might just mean granting vastly more authority to the states--which already have far broader police powers than most of us would care to admit.

Historically, there is a presumption that the legitimate police powers of the states are not to be pre-empted by federal law unless Congress has made that purpose clear.

While we must condemn any misuse of their authority, let's not forget that, by far, police are fulfilling their duty to protect and serve.

Officers who use stop and search appropriately, with reasonable grounds and in a targeted and intelligence-led way, will always have my full support.

The police must obey the law while enforcing the law.

If FBI agents can't be trusted to wiretap within the law, why trust them to carry weapons or make arrests?

The police officers, so far as discipline, organization, pay, and orders were concerned, came exclusively under the German Reich police system and were in no way connected with the administration of the Government General.

Few professions are given as much power as we entrust to those who wear the uniform of a police officer. These individuals dedicate themselves to a calling in which threats that can materialize in an instant are part of the job description.

September 11th does not justify ignoring the Constitution by creating broad new federal police powers. The rule of law is worthless if we ignore it whenever crises occur.

Strip away the factual misinformation repeatedly peddled about the Human Rights Act and almost everyone acknowledges that it works well in practice. Police up and down the country have found the Human Rights Act a much clearer and firmer basis for practical policing than the common law ever was.

[I]f you want instant, reflexive support for the US government's police and military powers, MSNBC is the place to turn these days.

It is a duty for any government to uphold the rule of law, and this sometimes requires the proportionate use of force.

The idea that the police cannot ask questions of the person that knows most about the crime is an infamous decision.

When you're a federal agent you don't get to arrest people for like $5.00 petty crimes or anything like that, they'll throw you right out of there.

When awesome investigative power is entrusted to so many individuals, it is extremely important that they wield it with a proper regard for your constitutional rights, especially your right to privacy.