We all have a fundamental right to live free from fear, free from crime, and free from disorder - but while we share that right, we also share the duty to secure it.
William BrattonRead
If an African-American or a recent immigrant - or anyone else, for that matter - can't feel secure walking into a police station or up to a police officer to report a crime, because of a fear that they're not going to be treated well, then everything else that we promise is on a shaky foundation.
Interpretation
Trust in law enforcement is crucial for community safety and justice.
This quote emphasizes the importance of trust between marginalized communities and law enforcement. When individuals, particularly those from African-American or immigrant backgrounds, fear discrimination or mistreatment from police, it undermines the very foundation of justice and safety that these institutions are supposed to uphold, indicating a need for reform and community engagement.
In practice
During a town hall meeting discussing community relations with law enforcement.
We all have a fundamental right to live free from fear, free from crime, and free from disorder - but while we share that right, we also share the duty to secure it.
Wrongful convictions happen every week in every state in this country. And they happen for all the same reasons. Sloppy police work. Eyewitness identification is the most - is the worst type almost. Because it's wrong about half the time. Think about that.
Courts are too distant from the communities they put on trial.
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.
It is not a charity but a right, not bounty but justice, that I am pleading for. The present state of civilization is as odious as it is unjust. It is absolutely the opposite of what it should be, and it is necessary that a revolution should be made in it. The contrast of affluence and wretchedness continually meeting and offending the eye, is like dead and living bodies chained together
If you ask me what is at the core of what I write, it isn't about 'rights', it's about justice. Justice is a grand, beautiful, revolutionary idea.
Terrorism does not disappear with revenge tactics but through making justice and equality before law a reality.
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